CNN Analyst Says There’s One Major Reason Jack Smith Could Win His Case Against Trump

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday there is one reason that the Washington, D.C., jury pool could hand special counsel Jack Smith a win his case against former President Donald Trump.

Judge Aileen Cannon signaled that she may delay the Mar-a-Lago document case — which was scheduled to begin in May — because Trump and his legal team need time to prepare. The case is currently scheduled to run back-to-back with Smith’s D.C. prosecution of Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

When asked which case should be tried first, Honig said while the Mar-a-Lago document case has “cleaner, stronger evidence, more easy for a jury to understand,” the “problem” for Smith “is the jury pool.”

“You’re gonna have to try that case in the Southern District of Florida, where Donald Trump did quite well electorally. Inevitably you’re going to have half the jury, give or take, are going to be Trump voters. Yeah, jurors are told, ‘Put aside your views.’ Trust me, they’re human beings. I’ve stood in front of plenty of jurors,” Honig said. “On the other hand, the D.C. case I think is more subject to a reasonable defense, based perhaps on the First Amendment. It’s not the easiest criminal case to understand but boy if I’m Jack Smith I love the D.C. jury pool. Donald Trump got five percent of the vote in D.C.” (RELATED: Whoopi Goldberg Demands Trump Be Fined $10 Million For Violating Gag Order)

“If I had to choose between the facts or the jury, give me the jury,” he added. “The jury’s the one who decides the facts, so ultimately, I would want the jury. And so, I think there’s a potential strategy here by DOJ: let’s get the D.C. trial done before the election, because I think you definitely will have a better jury pool, and if you get that win, take it to the bank, push everything else off till after the election.”

Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for D.C. has set Trump’s 2020 election trial date for March 4.

Trump has also been indicted on 37 counts in relation to his alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.