Trump admitted to insiders that Jack Smith had him 'dead to rights': report

[LetMyPeopleVote]

trump broke the law and is hoping that Cannon can protect him

Of all the legal problems Donald Trump faced, from accusations of sexual assault to business fraud, he most feared the Florida stolen government documents investigation by special counsel Jack Smith that ended up being dropped when he won re-election.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-24T12:50:49Z

https://www.rawstory.com/judge-cannon-jack-smith

Of all the legal problems Donald Trump faced, from accusations of sexual assault to business fraud, he most feared the Florida stolen government documents investigation by special counsel Jack Smith that ended up being dropped when he won re-election.

That is according to “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire, who reported on the president’s terror at being convicted during a discussion on U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's Monday ruling that permanently blocked the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s final report.

With MS NOW legal analyst Lisa Rubin once again saying “all bets” would be off if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decides to intervene, Lemire pointed out that Trump knew he was fortunate that his appointee covered up for him.

After noting there was considerable second-guessing going on after Smith elected to pursue the case in Florida, which led to Cannon’s courtroom, Lemire reported, ”Judge Cannon ended up putting a thumb on the scale significantly for Trump down the line. And you're right, Joe [Scarborough], we've talked about it on this show, Trump has privately told people, you know, more or less that he [Smith] was dead to rights on that one.”

“That was the case, the classified documents case that he feared the most,” he added. “And I know there will be second-guessing for all time in terms of the sequencing of those cases. The one in Manhattan went first, got a conviction, but it seemed to many to be the least serious, and we will never know if things had gone quicker or if the order was changed, what would have happened.“

[Just_Vote_Dem]

1. There was an interesting discussion on Emptywheel.net regarding the documents

There was a lawyer who posted there and was adamant that Smith should have filed that part of the document case he filed in Florida should have been filed in D.C., and there would have been a better outcome. Others said by law he wasn't able to do that. I'm not a lawyer and I don't know who was right.

[Wuddles440]

4. Yes, venue existed in D.C. and the case could have been pursued in that jurisdiction.

Unfortunately that's now history.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

5. Thanks n/t

[yardwork]

7. I'm disinclined to blame Jack Smith for anything.

I blame the hundreds of millions of Americans who voted for Trump.

Any one of those Trump voters is far more at fault for all this than Jack Smith.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

10. I was assigning no "blame"

I was curious about what I read and wanted to know if there was any truth to it.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

21. Thank you

The real blame for all of this lies with all Republican voters from 1980 through now.

[Kid Berwyn]

2. Yep.

See for yourself, FBI Ka$h & USA Men's Hockey Team: https://www.axios.com/2023/06/09/trump-mar-a-lago-classified-documents-storage-photos

[popsdenver]

8. Makes me think

that all these boxes were emptied into his ex-wife's coffin and the coffin buried on his private land for safe keeping.
No wonder her coffin weighed so much,.??????........ obvious when all the men were straining while lifting it....?????????

[OMGWTF]

16. TEN men struggled to lift the coffin of an old woman who was cremated.

She is buried in a makeshift (and unkept) grave at one of T💩p's golf courses, the Saudis have a fake golf tournament at that same course just one week later, and shortly after that, the Saudis give Jerod Kushner $2B+. So many dots to connect and they all paint a picture of unfathomable corruption and evil.

[popsdenver]

17. BINGO

so many coincidences, ........for decades.........all WHILE THE NATION SLEPT...........

[BannonsLiver]

3. I don't know why Trump was worried.

Federalist society member and lifelong Republican Merrick Garland was never going to let Jack Smith do anything to the Orange pedo. Would have been too provocative. Someone might have gotten upset.

[Rebl2]

6. Wonder who

from Federalist society is on the Epstein lists.

[alsoutherland]

11. Buddy,

That venn diagram is just a circle

[popsdenver]

9. Don't forget Mueller

and his massively redacted report that took forever to get done.....

[OhioBlue]

26. and his shaky, wimpy voice when he testified.

[MustLoveBeagles]

12. Maybe the Democrats who are elected President should stop being nice

Screw bipartisanship. No appointed Republicans anywhere near the DOJ. Let the other side whine about it. They will no matter what anyway.

[popsdenver]

18. LOL

sadly......a little late now MLB.......

[MustLoveBeagles]

25. I hope not

I'm cautiously hopeful about November.

[Buns_of_Fire]

13. That was the ONE charge that I thought could superglue his weenie to his belt buckle.

And then Aileen the Killjoy had to go ruin it for everyone...

[YodaMom2]

14. That's JUSTICE Killjoy to you!

[MLWR]

15. TRAITOR

The Rosenbergs were executed for less.

[popsdenver]

19. On a scale of one to a million

the Roseberg's were a ONE, compared to everything the Republicans did, starting with their corruption/treason during the 1980 election..........
I don't think that anyoneone has ever given credit to the role HWBush's CABAL played, from the shadows.....1979-1992.......

[NameAlreadyTaken]

20. Sorry, but what does "dead to rights" mean?

[yardwork]

23. It's an old fashioned expression.

It means that Trump thought that Jack Smith had a very strong case against him, and that Trump was likely to lose in court.

I don't know where the phrase comes from.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

24. Thank you

[D_Master81]

22. Of course he did

Anyone with a functioning brain could see that. Trump tried to take the docs and when he was caught held out as long as he could. Anyone that thought you could keep top secret documents in your bathroom and not face consequences were blind MAGA fools. But of course because it is America, we elect these people to power and their law breaking just magically goes away and there are no consequences

[duckworth969]

27. Thomas oversees 11th Circuit

Bet they decline to overturn and/or even review the case. They’ve had plenty of time to deal with Cannon and thus far have done next to nothing.