Labour's alleged "election interference" against Donald Trump could cause a "speed bump" in UK-US election if the 78-year-old becomes the 47th President, Republicans Overseas UK's Greg Swenson has told GB News.Sir Keir Starmer was embroiled in scathing complaint by the 2024 White House hopef…
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump said Thursday if he wins the White House, he will fire special counsel Jack Smith “within two seconds†of taking office.
Trump was asked during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would first pardon himself or terminate Smith to remove the legal cloud hanging over him. Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, charged the former president over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents.
“It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds,†Trump responded. “He’ll be one of the first things addressed.â€
Trump, who regularly assails Smith and suggested before that he would fire him if he were president, called Smith a “crooked person.â€
Trump, if elected, could order the Justice Department to remove Smith. Trump probably would not be able to do it on his own because Smith is not a presidential appointee.
When Trump, while president, was investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump urged his then-White House counsel, Don McGahn, to press the Justice Department to terminate Mueller. McGahn refused.
Smith brought two federal cases against Trump. One, accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was dismissed in July, a decision Smith appealed. The other, charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was delayed by a Supreme Court opinion conferring broad immunity for official acts made while president.
After Trump said he would fire Smith, Hewitt raised the possibility that Congress could impeach Trump over that move. Trump said he did not believe that would happen.
Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign sought to use revelations from Smith’s investigations into Trump against the Republican candidate. They released an ad this month that featured video from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and headlines from Smith’s investigation.
“He knew what he was doing,†the ad shows on screen.
Listen now and subscribe: | | | |
While Trump criticized Smith on Thursday, he praised U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who dismissed the classified documents case against the former president in July.
“We had a brave, brilliant judge in Florida,†Trump said. “She’s a brilliant judge, by the way. I don’t know her. I never spoke to her. Never spoke to her. But we had a brave and very brilliant judge.â€
Last week, the judge overseeing Trump's 2020 election interference case released a heavily redacted trove of documents that provide a small glimpse into the evidence prosecutors will present if the case ever goes to trial.
The nearly 1,900 pages of documents collected by Smith's team were initially filed under seal to help U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan decide what allegations can proceed to trial after the Supreme Court opinion in July that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts in office.
The information that could be seen in the redacted version released Oct. 18 appeared to be material that for the most part was already made public, including screenshots of Trump’s social media posts about the 2020 election and a transcript of the video statement he made on Jan. 6, 2021, in which he told the rioters attacking the Capitol to go home, but added: “we love you†and “you’re very special.â€
The overwhelming majority of the pages were whited out. The redacted files are believed to include things like transcripts of grand jury testimony, which remain under wraps because of grand jury secrecy rules.
Both the trial judge presiding over Trump's election interference case and a federal appeals court decisively swatted away the former president's claims that he was immune from prosecution.
In July, the Supreme Court's conservative majority took a starkly different view.
After rejecting Smith's December 2023 request that it leapfrog a lower court and take up the case immediately, the Supreme Court agreed last April to hear arguments and made clear through the tenor of its questioning that it was skeptical of the charges against Trump — even while not embracing his assertions of absolute immunity.
The result was a landmark 6-3 opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that ex-presidents were immune from prosecution for acts within their core constitutional duties, presumptively immune for other official acts and not immune at all for private acts.
The ruling triggered a fiery dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said it “makes a mockery†of the principle that “no man is above the law.â€
Kids who use ChatGPT as a study assistant do worse on tests
Kids who use ChatGPT as a study assistant do worse on tests
Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard hugs Republican former President Donald Trump on Wednesday as Tucker Carlson yells during a campaign rally in Duluth, Ga.