The legal system has completely failed to disqualify former President Trump from the office of president. No one knows now whether he will become the next president.
Much of the blame may lie at the feet of Special Prosecutor Jack Smith. Jack Smith has been pursuing Trump with the zeal of Inspector Javert, but so far to no avail.
President Trump's public lawsuit over his mishandling of classified Mar-a-Lago documents was dismissed on unprecedented legal grounds involving Mr. Smith's prosecution status. The Washington lawsuit over President Trump's conspiracy against democracy is back to square one, with Mr. Smith defeated by immunity in the Supreme Court.
Mr. Smith has struggled to get the listing off the ground, filing a 165-page procedurally irregular document dump. grand jury materialscontains evidence that Trump cannot refute. This filing clearly violates the Department of Justice's internal rules that state that “federal prosecutors may never choose the timing of any action, including the stages of an investigation, criminal prosecution, or deposition, for the purpose of influencing an election.” There is.
In other words, Smith did not act by the book. Veteran prosecutor Ellie Honig call overview “Smith's October Cheap Shot” is certainly a late hit.
None of the facts presented by Mr. Smith are game-changing revelations. The story is the same as before, and the new details only flesh out the case in the name of trying to circumvent the Supreme Court's immunity decision. The aim is clearly to further blacken Trump on the eve of the election.
we are now There are new detailsAbout President Trump's efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to end the election his way. President Trump's phone use and Twitter use during the attack on the Capitol. And ostensibly after learning of his election loss, he had conversations with his family about efforts to contest his election loss.
The worst thing is Trump's insensitivity When the vice president was informed of the danger he faced at the hands of the mob he had unleashed, he tweeted that Pence lacked the “courage” to do the right thing. The mob was furious, and the Secret Service took Mr. Pence to a safe location. President Trump's response: “So what?”
The sauce for the goose should be the sauce for the gander. In 2016, FBI Director James Comey's shocking revelation that Hillary Clinton's emails were discovered on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin, just before the election was justified. Furious Democrats are sure to react similarly to Smith's filing. Both prosecutors violated Long-standing practice of the Department of Justice Do not take investigative measures right before elections. The reason for the rule that politics and law enforcement should not be confused is clear. Neither disclosure served any legitimate law enforcement purpose. Smith could have waited a month. There was no need to rush.
This was not the only prosecutorial mistake Smith made. He is a bloodhound who cannot catch rabbits. In the first place, it took more than two and a half years to indict Trump on January 6th. Based on the time-honored principles I learned decades ago in the U.S. Attorney's Office, did I ever think that President Trump would make motions, seek delays, and throw monkey wrenches into the schedule? “No trial, no conviction.”
Then he filed the Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida. He could have taken it to Washington. Florida jurors likely favor Trump. In 2020, Trump won Florida with 51.2% of the vote. In Washington, he won by just 5.4%. Was Smith insane?
Florida is home to President Trump-friendly Judge Eileen Cannon, who was twice reprimanded by the 11th Circuit for her outlandish rulings on the Mar-a-Lago search warrant. Cannon's pro-Trump bias was so obvious that two federal judge colleagues I advised her to decline the case if she was assigned it. Smith bet he could avoid Cannon at Florida, but he grossly miscalculated the odds. Due to the peculiarities of the local rules, there was a 1 in 3 chance that Smith would land before Cannon. This was the worst bet, and Smith failed.
Smith also overprosecuted his case. She did not need to add Trump's valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira as co-defendants with Trump. That only complicated discovery and influenced Trump's delay strategy. Smith would have expected Nauta and de Oliveira to argue with some force to gain time for document review and discovery. The two could have been charged separately. In a trial in which Trump was the only defendant, evidence against Trump's representatives would have been allowed against him.
So Mr. Smith continues to spin the wheels, desperately trying to save two lawsuits that would clearly be dismissed if Mr. Trump were elected. And if Vice President Harris is elected, the incident may go away anyway.
Smith's watch management was pathetic. He's about to hear the final whistle.
Author and legal analyst James D. Gillin is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He is also a public TV talk show and podcast host. Conversation with Jim Gillin.
