Stacey Plaskett says Trump still vulnerable to charges stemming from election tampering

Donald Trump may have dodged an impeachment conviction, but his legal troubles appear far from over.

Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett – one of the House impeachment managers who presented the incitement case against the former president in his Senate trial – has accused Mr Trump and his allies in the Republican Party of obstructing justice in both of his impeachment trials.

Ms Plaskett appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe and discussed the potential for Mr Trump to face charges stemming from his rhetoric and actions leading up to the US Capitol insurrection.

"Let's hope many jurisdictions throughout the United States, which are bringing up charges against the president," Ms Plaskett said. "District of Columbia, for inciting violence, Georgia for election tampering and election intimidation. New York, going back to his finances. We were never able to find out issues related to violations of the emoluments clause while the president was in office. All of those things will continue to move forward."

Ms Plaskett said Mr Trump could still face repercussions from the charges stemming from Robert Mueller's investigation, and that House Democrats are still seeking testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.

"We are still in court battling through the court system to try to get the testimony of Mr McGahn from the first investigation and impeachment one," Ms Plaskett said. "That is still an ongoing investigation by the House, so Mr Goldman knows very well what the president is capable of, and that just to me highlights how incredibly brave Jaime Herrera Beutler, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and these other Americans, Senator (Bill) Cassidy and the others who stood up to the intimidation of Donald Trump and his followers."

Mr Trump and his allies in Congress could also face witness intimidation charges for perceived threats made to witnesses who may have provided testimony for the attack on the Capitol.

Impeachment manager Jamie Raskin had planned to call Ms Herrera Beutler, a Republican, to testify as a witness before the prosecutors decided against calling any.

Before the impeachment managers revoked their call for witnesses, Republican Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote a tweet invoking Mr Trump's base of supporters and warning Ms Herrera Beutler that they were watching her.

“First voting to impeach innocent President Trump, then yapping to the press and throwing @GOPLeader under the bus,” Ms Greene wrote. “The Trump loyal 75 million are watching.”

Daniel S Goldman, a lawyer on Mr Trump's first impeachment defence team, wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post claiming that such comments could be construed as threats meant to intimidate witnesses.

Mr Goldman also noted Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who faced numerous threats to himself and his family when Mr Trump and former Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler pointed to him as the reason the former president lost the 2020 election in Georgia.

"Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric notoriously caused Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling to warn that it would result in violence, after which Sterling, too, received death threats," he wrote.

Mr Goldman said Mr Trump's history of intimidating witnesses would likely impact any future attempts to bring charges against him.

"In the aftermath of the Capitol riot led by armed groups operating at Trump’s direction, the former president’s words and threats take on new meaning," Mr Goldman wrote. "Threats of violence are no longer abstract. With this backdrop, Trump’s consistent record of intimidation is cause for grave concern to any other mechanisms intended to hold him accountable in the future."

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