'Extortion': Attorney flames report Jack Smith deputy tried to 'flip' Trump valet
Reported court filing alleged DOJ prosecutor Jay Bratt mentioned how Waltine Nauta's attorney applied for federal judgeship
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A former federal prosecutor called out a reported filing made by an attorney for former President Donald Trump's valet – a co-defendant in the Mar-a-Lago special counsel case – and said the allegations amount to "extortion."
James Trusty, a former chief of the Justice Department's organized crime unit, said both Trump's case and the state of allegations against the Biden family from whistleblowers "speak volumes" about the integrity of the current DOJ.
He referenced allegations against Assistant U.S. Attorney for Delaware Lesley Wolf that claim she warned Hunter Biden's attorneys about potential scrutiny on a storage unit the first son used.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"In my book, that's basically obstruction of justice," Trusty said on 'Life, Liberty & Levin" Sunday.
Waltine Nauta, left, takes a phone from Former President Donald Trump at a golf event in Virginia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
But, Trusty added that a recent wrinkle in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into alleged mishandling of classified information at Trump's Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach may be similarly alarming.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"You had a high-level DOJ official -- according to a statement submitted as an officer-to-the-court, to a federal judge -- told Stanley Woodward, a defense attorney representing Walt Nauta that it would be a shame, essentially, if he endangered his pending judgeship by not flipping Nauta against President Trump," Trusty said.
The incident, first reported in the UK Guardian, claimed federal prosecutor Jay Bratt – head of the counterintelligence and export-control section of the DOJ's National Security Division – brought up the fact that Woodward filed an application to be considered for a federal judge opening.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Waltine Nauta along with defense attorney Stanley Woodward. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Woodward appeared before prosecutors in Washington in November 2022, according to the Guardian, over a matter they did not want to talk about by phone. The paper characterized the exchange as one in which Bratt suggested Woodward's endeavor for a judgeship would be viewed in a more positive light if his client cooperated against his boss -- the former president.
"Again, it's extortion," Trusty told host Mark Levin.
"So the people that we are entrusting in our criminal justice system to fairly and impartially and transparently pursue justice are actually obstructionists because they're so hellbent on going after one target: President Trump."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trusty said the reported incident involving Woodward and Bratt is the latest example of continued suggestions the Biden DOJ has "no compunction about breaking the rules" or flouting rule-of-law for political ends.
Trusty added that there are other "shenanigans" afoot in Smith's use of a grand jury regarding Trump, characterizing the classified documents case as one that began with a presiding judge in Washington, but continued with an indictment lodged in Miami.
"You don't do a grand jury investigation for a year only to move it to another district unless there's more to the story," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Levin noted that the grand jury in Washington would be witnessing evidence and occurrences that would naturally remain unbeknownst to a Florida grand jury, thereby muddying the case.
"Past people I have talked to that have faced this man, Smith, say that's exactly what he does," Levin said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}US prosecutor John L. "Jack" Smith presides during the presentation of the former Kosovar president Hashim Thaci before a war crimes court in The Hague, Holland. (JERRY LAMPEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
"He pierces attorney-client privilege by-hook-or-by-crook, gets it in front of the grand jury. It's used in front of the grand jury. And now in this case, he's moved it to another grand jury. And so the grand jury in Florida and the judge in Florida don't know anything about it unless Trump's lawyers are good enough to raise it with them."
Trusty, who at one point was part of Trump's Washington-based legal contingent but withdrew in June, said he hopes the former president's current counsel does bring the discrepancies before Judges Tanya Chutkan – the Obama appointee in Washington – or Aileen Cannon – the Trump appointee in Miami.
Of the Bratt-Woodward report, Fox News contributor and George Washington University Law Prof. Jonathan Turley also opined, saying in a June "Hill" column the indictment against Nauta, a Guam native, is "clearly designed to concentrate [his] mind on cooperation."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If he were to flip… Trump would face a potentially insurmountable case," Turley wrote in the column.
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