Former President Donald Trump is calling for Special Counsel Jack Smith to be “defunded” and “put out to rest.”
Trump, who faces federal and state felony charges as he seeks the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has repeatedly attacked Smith since he was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year to oversee twin criminal investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents and activities related to the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack.
The ex-president was indicted on 37 felony counts in the documents case last month, with the possibility that the ongoing January 6 investigation could still bring further federal charges. Smith stressed that there was “one set of laws in this country” that “apply to everyone” in a brief statement that followed the indictment.
Trump celebrated the Fourth of July on Tuesday evening by launching his latest attack on Smith in a Truth Social post that described the special counsel as a “sick puppet” of Garland and President Joe Biden.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is pictured speaking to the press in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 2023, while former President Donald Trump, inset, is shown at a rally in Pickens, South Carolina, on July 1, 2023. Trump on Tuesday called for Smith to be “defunded” and “put out to rest” in a Truth Social post.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP; Sean Rayford
“As my Poll numbers go higher & higher, the Communists, Marxists, & Fascists get more & more CRAZY with their ridiculous Indictments & Election Interference plans & plots, all controlled by an out of control, & very corrupt, DOJ/FBI,” Trump wrote. “They have WEAPONIZED Law Enforcement in America at a level not seen before.”
“Deranged Jack Smith, who is a sick puppet for A.G. Garland & Crooked Joe Biden, should be DEFUNDED & put out to rest,” he continued. “Republicans must get tough or the Dems will steal another Election. MAGA!”
The Department of Justice declined Newsweek’s request for comment.
In a Truth Social post on Monday night, the former president called Smith “a major SleazeBag put up by the corrupt DOJ to damage the Republican Party,” while again accusing him of participating in “election interference.”
Trump also lashed out at Smith last week after CNN broadcast a leaked audio recording, cited in the federal indictment, that appears to feature the former president bragging in July 2021 about having a “highly confidential” document and saying that he did not have the power to declassify it.
Prior to the release of the audio, Trump repeatedly claimed that he had declassified every document he retained after leaving the White House in January 2021. Last week he claimed, without evidence, that Smith was responsible for the leak of the recording.
“The Deranged Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, working in conjunction with the DOJ & FBI, illegally leaked and ‘spun’ a tape and transcript of me which is actually an exoneration, rather than what they would have you believe,” wrote Trump. “This continuing Witch Hunt is another ELECTION INTERFERENCE Scam. They are cheaters and thugs!”
There has recently been increasing speculation that Smith’s January 6 probe may be ending with another criminal indictment of the ex-president.
Trump could also be charged in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation of his ill-fated attempt to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, although he has predicted that Willis “will be dropping all charges against me for lack of a case.”
Update 07/05/23, 4:14 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to reflect that the Department of Justice declined to comment.
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