Top Republican demands ethics investigation into special counsel Jack Smith for trying to interfere in election by expediting Trump’s January 6 trial
- GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik claimed the special counsel is ‘trying to expedite the process to influence the November general election’
- Lawyers for Trump and Smith made their arguments before the Supreme Court last week on whether a president has absolute immunity from prosecution
The No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives is demanding an ethics investigation into Special Counsel Jack Smith for “misusing the resources of the federal government to unlawfully interfere with the 2024 presidential election.”
GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik says the special counsel is “trying to expedite the process to influence the November general election.”
In a letter to the DOJ watchdog, she notes that Smith filed a petition in August 2023 to set trial for the case in January 2024, despite Trump having “thirteen million pages” of documents to review plus “thousands hours’ worth of footage.
In a letter to Jeffrey Ragsdale, counsel for the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik alleged that the special counsel is “attempting to expedite the process to influence the November general election.”
Stefanik reasoned:
“Prosecutors bringing a case of this complexity – with so many ramifications and new legal issues to resolve – would normally never attempt to bring it to trial within five months.”
“The only reason for pushing for such an early trial date was to try to get the case tried before the November election, and the Justice Department Manual clearly prohibits Jack Smith from taking action on that basis.” to undertake.’
Lawyers for Trump and Smith made their arguments before the Supreme Court last week in the landmark case over whether a president has absolute immunity from prosecution.
The January 6 trial was scheduled to begin in March this year. The proceedings have been halted as Trump pursues claims of immunity from prosecution for all charges related to his official actions.
It is unlikely that Trump will receive full immunity, but conservative judges appeared willing to provide some legal safeguards to protect Trump and future presidents from political prosecution.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the immunity case before the end of June.
A Florida court, meanwhile, has yet to rule on Trump’s request to dismiss the classified documents case over claims he was improperly appointed.
Trump faces four criminal cases — two of which are headed by Smith: charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Trump’s mishandling of classified documents.
Smith moved quickly to advance the investigation, forming a team of at least 20 DOJ prosecutors, calling witnesses for grand jury testimony and subpoenaing election officials in several states.
This week, Trump was in court in New York for the hush money trial with Stormy Daniels for paying the porn star $130,000. Prosecutors accuse Trump of an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by burying negative stories.