Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann was asked on the latest episode of the “Pod Saves America” podcast what would give him sleepless nights if he was prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
“Jury nullification,” he responded.
“What I have experienced is the problem in a high-profile case of jurors who want to get on the jury and who are less than candid, which is a nice way of saying ‘lie,’” Weissmann, who is now a legal analyst for MSNBC, told co-host Dan Pfeiffer.
“Usually most jurors don’t want to be on a jury,” Weissmann noted during a discussion on Trump’s possible imminent indictment in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“But in high-profile matters, you have that problem of somebody really trying to sneak on who is not intending to adhere to their oath of office as a juror,” he said.
“It only takes one juror to have a hung jury,” he continued. “Even if it’s 11-1 for conviction,” Trump could still claim it’s “a huge victory.”
“So, that would be the thing that would worry me the most,” he added. “The evidence seems incredibly strong. That’s the biggest thing that I would worry about.”
Trump on Tuesday claimed he had received “a target letter” from the special prosecutor. The former president said it gave him “a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
Trump has this year already been indicted for allegedly mishandling classified documents, faces trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money payment case in 2024 and remains under investigation for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.
Watch the full podcast episode here: