MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Monday she watched “mob movies” while former President Donald Trump was in office in order to “familiarize” herself with “all the terms being thrown around” related to investigations against him, such as “racketeering.”
During her broadcast of “Deadline: White House,” Wallace discussed with guest Andrew Weissmann the possibility that racketeering charges could be brought against Trump over his January phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Trump had seemingly asked Raffensperger “to find 11,780 votes” for him. (RELATED: Georgia Prosecutors Investigating Alleged 2020 Election Interference)
Wallace began with a report by Reuters that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis hired an experienced racketeering attorney, which Wallace described as “a sign that racketeering may be a big part of the case against Trump and his allies.” She then asked Weissmann what he thought the hire meant.
Weissmann explained that Willis “has really ripped a page from the Cy Vance playbook” because Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney investigating Trump and the Trump Organization for tax fraud, hired experts in fields pertaining to where his investigation was heading.
“Racketeering harkens back all of the mob movies, and I actually went back and watched all of them during Trump’s presidency just to familiarize myself with all the terms being thrown around,” Wallace responded. “What is a racketeering investigation and how does that call, that we now all heard with our own ears, where he’s clearly telling the secretary of state to go find votes, he’s clearly telling him to commit a crime, how does that fit into a racketeering probe?”
Weissmann began to answer Wallace’s question before he experienced technical difficulties.
Wallace started reading from the Reuters report, saying, “If she pursues racketeering charges, Willis will need to prove a pattern of corruption by Trump, alone or with his allies, aimed at overturning the election results to stay in power. While racketeering is typically pursued by prosecutors in cases involving such crimes as murder, kidnapping and bribery, the Georgia statute defines racketeering more broadly to include false statements made to state officials.”
Weissmann returned, only to cast doubt on the certainty of racketeering charges, and whether the call between Trump and Georgia officials was criminal. He concluded by saying “it’s clear” Georgia is taking the call “very seriously,” and that “whether it is criminal or not still remains to be seen.”
Following the presidential election, Trump criticized Georgia officials over the results of the election in Georgia. The current investigation stems from the phone call with Raffensperger, when Trump mentioned the exact number of votes he would need to overcome President Joe Biden’s lead of 11,779 votes.
Both investigations in New York and Georgia are still ongoing. No potential charges against Trump, his family or the Trump Organization have been announced.
