‘A Real Sleazebag!’ Trump’s ‘Cookie Jar’ Taunt at Jack Smith Suggests He Could Be Next Up After Comey, Letitia James Indictments

The indictments of a former director of the FBI, James Comey, and New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, surfaces the possibility that Special Counsel Jack Smith could soon face legal jeopardy. Mr. Trump earlier this week took to Truth Social to declare that “Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!” That was in reference to disclosures that the FBI obtained phone records of eight Republican senators as part of Mr. Smith’s “Operation Arctic Frost.” That was the code name for the FBI’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The charges handed up against Ms. James mean that one of Mr. Trump’s primary foes will now be required to defend herself in court, ironically on charges of mortgage fraud. It is a stunning reversal for Ms. James, who in 2023 secured a civil fraud verdict against Mr. Trump, his two adult sons, and his family business over allegations of mortgage and insurance fraud by the Trump Organization. That judgment climbed to some $500 million before it was overturned by a New York appellate court.In separate case laced with similar irony, a federal grand jury up the river is reported to be investigating Ms. James for violating Mr. Trump’s civil rights when she brought her civil fraud lawsuit.Ms. James’s case against Mr. Trump’s business practices unfolded against the backdrop of Mr. Smith’s two criminal prosecutions of the 47th president — for election interference and the storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. President Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Mr. Smith to pursue Mr. Trump two days after the latter announced his intention to regain the White House. While many Democrats — including, according to the New York Times, Mr. Biden — thought Mr. Garland appointed Mr. Smith too late, the prosecutor moved with alacrity, making every effort to try Mr. Trump before the election. But Mr. Smith wasn’t fast enough, and his cases ended in failure when the presidential election of 2024 handed Mr. Trump whatt the Department of Justice calls “categorical” immunity. Both cases, though, faltered even before the election. The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that official presidential acts are presumptively immune from prosecution. And in Florida Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the documents case after finding that Mr. Smith was unlawfully appointed.The special counsel, though, was defiant until his resignation days before Mr. Trump swore the oath for a second time. In his final report on the January case he accused Mr. Trump of an “unprecedented criminal effort” to cling to power and wrote that the “admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.” Mr. Smith’s second report, on the Mar-a-Lago case, has not been released, despite growing pressure.The Trump administration has hardly let bygones be bygones with respect to Mr. Smith. Everyone seconded to his team at the DOJ has resigned or been fired. Attorney General Pam Bondi has convened a “Weaponization Working Group,” part of whose remit is to probe “Special Counsel Jack Smith and his staff, who spent more than $50 million targeting President Trump.”The DOJ has also opened another front by launching an investigation into whether the timing of Mr. Smith’s prosecutions violated the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits employees from engaging in certain kinds of political activities. Mr. Smith’s attorneys, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, contend that the “predicate for this investigation is imaginary and unfounded” and that their client “was fiercely committed to making prosecutorial decisions based solely on the evidence.”Records show that Mr. Koski provided some $150,000 in free legal services to Mr. Smith while he was special counsel. The partner at Covington & Burling was in March targeted with an executive order that ordered the suspension of “any active security clearances held by Peter Koski and all members, partners, and employees of Covington & Burling LLP who assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith during his time as Special Counsel.”Mr. Smith has spoken publicly just one time since he resigned from government. In a speech last month at George Mason University he declared that “what I see happening at the Department of Justice today saddens me and angers me … the government, using the vast powers of the criminal justice system to target citizens for exercising their constitutional rights.”The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, on Thursday announced that two federal agents who worked with Mr. Smith on “Operation Arctic Frost” had been fired. He told Fox News that “We’re just scratching the surface here, but accountability’s coming” — possibly for Mr. Smith himself.

‘A Real Sleazebag!’ Trump’s ‘Cookie Jar’ Taunt at Jack Smith Suggests He Could Be Next Up After Comey, Letitia James Indictments

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