Jack Smith Faces New Accusation He ‘Privately’ Admitted Trump Probe’s Methods Could Violate Constitution

The publication of a report from Congressman Jim Jordan alleging that Special Counsel Jack Smith “privately” knew he was treading on legally dubious ground in his pursuit of President Trump escalates scrutiny of the prosecutor ahead of his congressional testimony on Tuesday. It’s a development that will embolden critics of Mr. Smith’s tenure.Mr. Jordan, who has referred Mr. Smith to the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution over alleged false statements to Congress, alleges in the 57-page report that Mr. Smith “ran roughshod over key constitutional protections” and that Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed the special counsel, used the “DOJ as a weapon against its political opponents.”Mr. Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, alleges that Mr. Smith “tried to silence President Trump with unlawful gag orders, threatened defense attorneys, mishandled key documents, and broke protocol to release a massive trove of alleged evidence just weeks before the presidential election to sway public opinion.” Mr. Smith charged Mr. Trump with four criminal counts relating to the 2020 presidential election; Mr. Trump pleaded “not guilty,” and the charges were dismissed after he won reelection in 2024.At the center of the report is “Operation Arctic Frost,” the investigation that preceded and fed into Mr. Smith’s special counsel probe of Mr. Trump. As part of the investigation, Mr. Smith’s office obtained telephone metadata from some 14 Republican lawmakers. It also issued subpoenas for text messages sent by 44 lawmakers, including some Democrats. Those subpoenas were accompanied by nondisclosure orders, meaning the targets did not know at the time that their records were being sought.Mr. Jordan alleges that Mr. Smith “admitted privately” to Mr. Garland that lawmakers “likely have a valid Speech or Debate privilege immunizing them from compelled testimony,” but that Mr. Garland still gave his “blessing” to Mr. Smith for subpoenas “compelling the production of Members’ protected legislative records.” Mr. Jordan writes that, “Whether through arrogance or maliciousness, these partisan prosecutors were willing to violate the Constitution and break prosecutorial norms.”Mr. Jordan urges the House to take up a bill, the Congressional Records Protection Act, that would bar any government entity from obtaining records — by any means — that could implicate the Speech or Debate Clause. Mr. Jordan writes that “the Speech or Debate Clause protects not only legislators, but American citizens too. It guarantees that the people’s representatives in Congress may advocate effectively on their constituents’ behalf without the threat of interference or intimidation by the Executive Branch.”The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause ordains that lawmakers “shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.” The Supreme Court held in Gravel v. United States, in 1972, that the protection extends to legislative activity.Mr. Smith’s attorney, Peter Koski, responds in a statement that “Mr. Smith and his team followed the normal DOJ process when investigating an unprecedented scheme to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power. These alleged crimes cannot be ignored merely because the President who sought to retain power was a Republican.” He adds that the premise of Mr. Jordan’s report “is based on a mischaracterization of the facts and the law.”Earlier this week, transcripts memorializing testimony delivered by members of Mr. Smith’s team to House Republicans shed further light on the prosecution. One DOJ agent, Brian Burnett, calls the investigation “unique” and reflected: “A normal investigation would be, I would do the investigation, become familiar with everything, you know, do grand jury subpoenas, do the normal investigative process, follow the normal investigative steps. But, in this case, those steps were given to us by the prosecution team.”Mr. Smith last testified before Congress in January, when he swore under oath that he had amassed enough evidence to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Mr. Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The special counsel declared in a lecture last week at Dartmouth: “My experience in my career is that the rule of law and integrity are intertwined. They’re together. You cannot have a functioning rule of law without people with integrity to enforce it.”

Jack Smith Faces New Accusation He ‘Privately’ Admitted Trump Probe’s Methods Could Violate Constitution

Jack Smith Faces New Accusation He ‘Privately’ Admitted Trump Probe’s Methods Could Violate Constitution

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