In case you were wondering about all the “leaks” we’ve been getting from the Mar-a-Lago case — and Trump’s lawyers screaming bloody murder that Jack Smith himself is doing the leaking , here’s an explainer from TPM:
The short answer is that the sources of the flurry of stories we’ve seen are witnesses in the case or, more precisely, their lawyers. Trump World figures, in responding and reacting to some of the disclosures, have divulged some new information, too, but that’s been less revealing of the underlying facts than of potential defenses they might use and the public narrative they want to create.
None of the big reveals about the MAL evidence from the last few weeks bear much sign of having come from Smith, the FBI, or DOJ more broadly.
Kurt Eichenwald, the veteran investigative reporter, had a good thread on the dynamics:
As a flood of details of the Trump MaraLago case come out, Trump, commentators etc say Smith’s team is leaking. As someone who has covered these kinds of cases many times, that is almost certainly not true. And the fact that this much is coming out is a bad sign for Trump as investigations near their close, there are scores of people who know what is going on.
Every witness has a lawyer, and all the lawyers speak to each other to make sure that their clients have not made an error in their testimony to the grand jury. Reporters always havestanding relationships with the lawyers and usually with the witnesses. We all know that, at some point, all of the lawyers will know everything and most of the witnesses will know that they are not in danger of indictment, and this is when everyone starts talking.with some exceptions, the reporters usually have establish relationships within the DOJ or independent counsel’s office, but they rarely will say anything other than to wave you off if your article is completely wrong.
They will let you be vaguely wrong, which is why you need strong relationships with everyone with contact to the investigation. Reporters are not simply sitting there waiting to lap up information from the prosecutors or FBI. With one exception, it never happens. The exception: Ken Starr and the Lewinsky investigation.
Ken Starr personally leaked like a sieve. He even publicly admitted that in a tape recorded interview with Steven Brill, which was published in a now-defunct magazine called Content. Brett Kavenaugh on the Starr team also personally leaked (and now he is a SCOTUS justice) reporters did a horrible job during the Lewinsky investigation for that very reason.
They were easily manipulated because they thought they were getting the straight dope, but Starr & Co. were using them to put pressure on other potential witnesses by often making it seem like they knew more than they actually did. Bill Clinton disgusted Starr and his team – something reflected in the absurd, near-pornographic report they put out which had all the “impeach impeach!!!” recommendations that Mueller properly refused to do, recognizing that the decision to impeach was for Congress, not for him.
Starr exercised no such respect for the role that had become the traditional position for special prosecutors. And remember – Starr was appointed by a court *after* the previous Special prosecutor, Bob Fisk(fiske) concluded that there was nothing to the Whitewater case. Starr started from scratch, found nothing, and then pursued the Lewinsky case like it was the crime of the century.
So, bottom line: The vast amount of info coming out now indicates Smith is reaching the end of the investigation. There is literally no motivation any prosecutor would have at this stage to leak – not even a partisan like Ken Starr. And the lawyers/witnesses know pretty much the whole case, and near the end is when they all start blabbing.
Sounds right to me.