Joyce White Vance, an ex-U.S. attorney and legal pundit, said Sunday that former President Donald Trump had the worst legal week he has ever seen after two of his White House attorneys provided six hours of testimony in a key investigation.
Trump faced setbacks in several investigations into his conduct last week, including the Department of Justice's probe into the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot—when a mob of his supporters violently protested the 2020 election results—as well as the inquiry into whether he improperly stored classified documents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence after he vacated the White House.
The latest blow to his legal defense came Friday when former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy counsel Patrick Philbin testified before a grand jury for six hours as part of the Jan. 6 investigation.
Vance, during an appearance on MSNBC's The Katie Phang Show on Sunday, said their testimony contributed to what she views as "the worst legal week that Trump has ever seen."
"These are the guys who were with Trump. They had daily access. They understood what was going on. They were trying to head off disaster. These are two fine lawyers who understand legally what a president's obligations are and where the line between appropriate action and activity that crosses over into criminality—where that line is," Vance said.
Vance said she believes they were likely providing "a lot of substantive testimony" based on the amount of time they spent before the grand jury. She said they were "not just taking the fifth amendment" or "asserting executive privilege."
The hearing largely focused on the Jan. 6 investigation, according to CNN. But Vance speculated that they could have also testified about the classified documents probe.
"It is unprecedented for there to be a criminal investigation into a former president after he's out of office," she said. "But here we've got two separate ones. We're actually having to speculate are these witnesses talking about this case or that case. That in and of itself tells us how serious this is."
Trump Suffered Major Legal Woes Last Week
Trump's former attorneys' testimonies are not the only legal losses Trump endured last week. The losses follow his announcement that he is running for president in 2024.
On Thursday, a federal court overturned a previous ruling allowing a special master picked by Trump's attorneys to review the documents involved in the DOJ's investigation. Legal experts called the decision a "massive DOJ win," as federal investigations can now use these documents as part of their investigation.
Meanwhile, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Trump's former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, must testify in a Georgia investigation into his call with their Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the former president allegedly asked him to "find" enough votes to tilt the election in his favor.
In New York, attorneys made their closing arguments in a tax fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization. The jury is set to receive the case for review on Monday.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.
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Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
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