‘Questionable Political Prosecutions’: House Republicans Ask Garland To Release Jack Smith Conflict-Of-Interest Documents

Authored by Catharine Yang via The Epoch Times,

Republican members of Congress have despatched a letter asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch the conflict-of-interest evaluation of particular counsel Jack Smith.

“Mr. Smith has a history of questionable political prosecutions,” wrote Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) within the Wednesday letter signed by eight different representatives.

Mr. Smith was appointed particular counsel final November to research former President Donald Trump, and is heading each the Mar-a-Lago case by which Mr. Trump has been indicted, and the probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach and surrounding occasions.

Mr. Trump final week introduced he’d acquired a letter informing him he was a goal of this Jan. 6 investigation that has already resulted in additional than 1,000 charged, and simply in the present day wrote on social media that his attorneys have met with Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators and that, opposite to many information studies, he was not advised to count on an indictment. The grand jury reportedly convened this morning.

Prior to Mr. Smith’s appointment, it might have been customary process to do a background examine and evaluation of the particular counsel’s “ethics and conflicts of interest,” the letter states, citing a statute.

“We request that you provide us with unredacted copies of all documents related to the conflicts of interest review that was conducted prior to Smith’s appointment, including any reports that were prepared as a part of the review by Friday, August 4, 2023,” reads the letter, which was first obtained by The Daily Caller.

Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a just lately unsealed indictment towards former President Donald Trump, in Washington on June 9, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The letter goes on to name into query Mr. Smith’s prosecution former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, “which was unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court.”

Mr. McDonnell had been sentenced to 2 years in jail for accepting bribes in 2015. In 2016 the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling that the prosecutors used a “boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute.”

“A more limited interpretation of the term ‘official act’ leaves ample room for prosecuting corruption, while comporting with the text of the statute and the precedent of this Court,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote within the majority opinion. “Setting up a meeting, calling another public official, or hosting an event does not, standing alone, qualify as an ‘official act.’”

“Conscientious public officials arrange meetings for constituents, contact other officials on their behalf, and include them in events all the time. The basic compact underlying representative government assumes that public officials will hear from their constituents and act appropriately on their concerns—whether it is the union official worried about a plant closing or the homeowners who wonder why it took five days to restore power to their neighborhood after a storm,” Roberts wrote.

The letter additionally factors out that Mr. Smith’s spouse, Katy Chevigny, “produced a documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama and donated to President [Joe] Biden’s 2020 campaign, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest for Mr. Smith.” Ms. Chevigny had donated $1,000 twice to Mr. Biden’s marketing campaign in 2020.

“We hope that you, in compliance with DOJ regulations, conducted the required review of potential conflicts of interest prior to Mr. Smith’s appointment. In order for the American people to have confidence in Mr. Smith’s investigation, it is vital that you release the information associated with the investigation of Mr. Smith’s potential conflicts of interest,” the letter reads.

Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Matthew Rosendale Sr. (R-Mont.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Alex Mooney (R-W. Va.), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) joined Mr. Burlison in signing the letter.

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts (2L) administers the oath of workplace to U.S. President Donald Trump as his spouse Melania Trump holds the Bible and son Barron Trump seems on, on the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Third Indictment?

Reports of the Jan. 6 grand jury assembly emerged Thursday morning as jurors had been seen getting into a courthouse, and information studies of Mr. Trump’s attorneys being knowledgeable of an indictment that might come as quickly as that day adopted. The attorneys had been seen leaving earlier than midday, and by round 1 p.m. Mr. Trump had taken to social media to dispell the rumors.

“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country. No indication of notice was given during the meeting—Do not trust the Fake News on anything!” he wrote.

Mr. Trump has claimed the newest investigation is “election interference” on the a part of the Biden administration, which has stayed quiet on the subject. When he introduced the letter stating he was a goal of this newest investigation, he wrote {that a} grand jury “almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.” He has already pleaded not responsible in a single case associated to falsifying enterprise data, and another associated to categorized paperwork.

“We’ll have fun on the stand with all of these people that say the Presidential Election wasn’t Rigged and Stollen. THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY!!!” Mr. Trump wrote.