Former Prosecutor: Kash Patel’s Immunity Means Feds Are Building a Case Against Trump

Former prosecutor Renato Mariotti explained to CNN’s Frederika Whitfield that the FBI surely gave Kash Patel limited-use immunity in order to cut Trump off at the pass and lure him into a trap, where Trump relies upon a defense (“I declassified them”) that he won’t have with Patel having crossed over. But there is probably more going on, too.

Whitfield asked what DOJ was doing with Patel, and Mariotti answered, leaving a little to read between the lines.

“It strongly suggests to me, Fred, that they are building a case against Trump. Kash Patel, in my mind, is somebody — the subject of the testimony is supposedly his witnessing of verbal statements by Trump declassifying documents. That is not the sort of thing that the Justice Department would be investigating on its own. “

They’re investigating that and they’re trying to lock in his testimony so that they can undercut a potential defense that Donald Trump has that somehow Patel witnessed him declassifying documents just, you know, in a private room verbally somewhere. And so, you know, the fact that they got immunity tells me that they’re willing to gamble away any leverage against Kash Patel in order to make sure that they get his testimony locked in under oath so they can undercut that at a potential trial of Trump.“

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True, and they’ll shut off that defense fast, the “I declassified…” which isn’t even a defense to an obstruction of justice charge or the espionage case. But Kash Patel saw and heard a lot more than “just” whether Trump classified or declassified documents. He surely heard tidbits (or the whole story) about what exactly Trump wanted and why he wanted it. If the FBI thinks they have a case for espionage, taking documents on Iran’s missile capabilities, they need someone like Kash Patel, no better source, to say “why” Trump might have wanted them, what Patel heard Trump say at given points in time. Patel might even testify about why he seemed to be the “point man” in running the “declassified defense.”

It must be critically important. Patel is a very, very big fish. To give him immunity is jaw-dropping. They are going after the “declassified” defense, but they’re also hunting for bigger games. “Why did he want those documents, and what did he plan to do with them?”

I am just guessing – guessing, no inside knowledge, just speculation, that Patel’s attorney went to the FBI with a “proffer.” Wherein she said, “Patel is willing to testify to why Trump… what he planned… how he was going to…. But we want immunity to testify.” Just speculating.

Jason Miciak

@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact with any concerns.