There are many who believe that Donald Trump is running for president for no bigger reason than to save himself from prison – I’m not one, I think he’d run anyway, but the question as to what happens to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s cases will linger over every remaining week until Trump either assumes office or goes back to sulk in Florida. To that end, Hugh Hewitt asked Trump whether he would pardon himself as president or fire Jack Smith – not that the two are mutually exclusive.
On this, Trump knows exactly what he wants. From Mediaite’s reporting on the show:
“It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.
Trump went on later to call [Jack Smith] a “scoundrel” and a “mean man” who took things “too far” with the FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property to obtain classified documents.
Okay, that is neither here nor there about much of anything – Trump hates everyone who is even somewhat against him, never mind really really against him – like, prosecuting him. There is also very little question as to whether the President does have the ultimate authority to fire a Special Counsel. Absent Congressional intervention with a new Special Counsel statute, it is within the President’s ultimate authority.
If Smith is fired – one would expect a Donald Trump Justice Department to move to dismiss the criminal complaints against him. Fine. But at that point it could get interesting.
Judge Chutkan has a mountain of what the Special Counsel maintains is damning evidence, all pursuant to a Supreme Court decision that Trump himself sought. Thus this particular judge in this particular case is uniquely positioned to evaluate the evidence against Trump and whether a motion to dismiss could ever be filed in good faith. Judge Chutkan could – in theory – deny the motion to dismiss – something always in the court’s discretion. There would just be no one to prosecute the matter. Trump’s defense lawyers would be on retainer laughing and pointing.
But the Court might not laugh along with them and could appoint a special prosecutor, at least in theory. There is some loose precedent in the case involving former Trump National Security Director Michael Flynn – who plead guilty and then withdrew his plea while Trump’s DOJ looked on in support. A very strong U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan then appointed former judge, John Gleeson, in what The New York Times called “an extraordinary move in a case with acute political overtones.”
The court hired Gleeson to evaluate whether Flynn committed perjury in withdrawing a very clear guilty plea. In essence, Gleeson was to evaluate whether to prosecute a second case. And that was a big enough deal, thanks.
If Judge Chutkan did something similar in asking a third party to evaluate a motion to dismiss and found it to be in bad faith, the only next logical move is to either hold the entirety of DOJ in contempt (Never a great idea) or continue to employ the third party to prosecute the case, which may only be slightly better. Or worse.
Either way, it would be a grease fire of massive proportions. Trump could hose it all down by pardoning himself – though that is a bit tricky in that he might want to save pardons in his pocket for a bit. Additionally – and I might be the only law school graduate to believe this, but I’m not convinced a president can pardon himself. A pardon is something one extends to someone else, “I beg your pardon.” There may be no other context in which one can logically pardon oneself.
But if anyone could do it – it would have to be Donald Trump. And yet if it ever gets to that point we all know that the country would already be on a new glideslope. Possible criminal cases against Trump may almost be a cute side issue. Regardless, Trump really could say that he fired Smith for cause because Trump’s employee evaluation seems a bit harsh:
“Jack Smith is a scoundrel. He’s a very dishonest man, in my opinion, very dishonest man. And he’s a mean man. He’s a mean man, but his problem is, he’s so mean that he always goes too far like the raid of Mar-A-Lago.”
So there’s that. Neither Smith nor Trump thinks much of the other. But again, if Trump wins, there is no question that he can fire Smith – not in my mind. There is one other argument that Trump could absolutely use. He could say – with some legitimacy – that the American people pardoned him in the election. Ultimately, claiming that kind of pardon, while firing Smith, is likely his best move and what he’s most likely to do.
Whether Judge Chutkan buys any of this or has other options is, well – at the pleasure of the court. Not that there will be any pleasure in any of this. Never was.
God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and @JasonMiciak
This will be one of the least of our worries if he gets back in.
It’s all the other things related to this that are the real worries, specially after the SCOTUS ruling on immunity.
He’s a ticking bomb that needs to be neutralized, otherwise it will blow up in our faces. Our children deserve better.
we will be speaking Russian
He won’t fire jack smith, he will lock him up or put him against a wall and shoot him. Same with dr fauci. And of course President Biden. I worry for these people if that menace gets into residency again.
Within a few months of being given power, Hitler sent his political opponents to Dachau. Believe it America while you’re worrying about the insignificant bullshit you hold dear.