Jack Smith escalates Trump DOJ clash with blistering private-event rebuke
Former special counsel Jack Smith unleashed on the Department of Justice in an unusually fiery speech to a few hundred people during a private event, accusing the department of being...
By Fox News · Fox News
Former special counsel Jack Smith unleashed on the Department of Justice in an unusually fiery speech to a few hundred people during a private event, accusing the department of being "corrupted" and targeting President Donald Trump’s enemies. Smith's remarks, given during a private dinner in D.C. in April and reported by the New York Times this week, zeroed in on the DOJ's decisions to investigate and prosecute some of Trump's top political rivals, such as former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The former special counsel accused the department of weaponizing its authority, the very same accusation that Republicans have widely leveled at Smith for bringing two criminal cases against Trump during the Biden administration. "We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn’t like them," Smith said. CONSERVATIVES ACCUSE JACK SMITH OF IMPROPER TIES WITH JUDGES IN TRUMP CASES AFTER NEW DOCUMENT DUMP A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department expected "nothing less from Jack Smith whose sole mission was to politically prosecute a former president in an attempt to stop him from assuming office again." "This DOJ has ended the weaponization perpetrated by the Biden Administration and will continue to ensure no one is above the law," the spokesperson said. Smith brought indictments against Trump alleging he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election and that he retained classified national defense information. Smith faced significant hurdles in the election case, while the classified documents case was tossed out by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who said he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. Smith’s office was appealing Cannon’s ruling when Trump won the 2024 election. Weeks later, Smith moved to dismiss both federal cases, citing the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Trump raged at Sm…