Senator tells Merrick Garland to hand over communications with Jack Smith

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri addressed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) hand over internal communications with special counsel Jack Smith regarding his latest superseding indictment of the former president.

Schmitt criticized Smith’s indictment in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump as well as the DOJ’s renewed interest in the “Russian election interference bogeyman” as evidence of political weaponization, according to the letter. Schmitt is urging Garland to provide relevant information regarding Smith’s latest superseding indictment on the Trump 2020 election case, as well as the DOJ’s most recent indictments against Russian nationals.

“I write to express my disappointment with two political decisions by the Department of Justice in recent weeks,” the letter states. “These decisions do not seem thought out and threaten to continue to turn the DOJ into a ‘political weapon.’”

“Yet, the DOJ is blatantly ignoring norms and for the first time in our nation’s history prosecuting its political opponents—not only while votes are being cast but also with a constitutionally suspect prosecutor,” the letter continues.

Smith’s initial indictment against Trump over the classified documents case was dismissed due to his “improperly appointed” post as special counsel. Despite his alleged unconstitutional appointment, Smith was allowed to oversee the January 6 investigation and was permitted to file the most recent superseding indictment in the Trump 2020 election case.

Schmitt requested any communications DOJ officials had with Smith in the aftermath of the presidential immunity Supreme Court decision as well as communications after Trump-appointed District Judge Aileen Cannon found Smith was unconstitutionally appointed to his position, according to the letter.

“If Smith’s appointment to oversee one of the cases is unlawful, then so is the other,” the letter states. “Moreover, the lawfulness of Smith’s appointment is currently on appeal at the Eleventh Circuit. DOJ, by allowing Smith to remain as special counsel, is flouting the only judicial decision we have on the lawfulness of his appointment and ignoring the fact that his position’s legal status is in limbo before a federal appellate court.”

“I want to be crystal clear, Russian interference—or interference from any foreign actor—has no place in our election,” the letter states.

“After President Trump’s complete exoneration from the Mueller investigation into the 2016 election and the verification of the Hunter Biden laptop following its suppression in 2020, I fear this may be 2024’s attempt to roll out the same old playbook—use arms of the DOJ to scare the American electorate into believing the Russian collusion hoax to advance its preferred candidate,” the letter continues.

The letter criticizes the decision to indict Trump right before mail-in ballots were sent out in key states, with Schmitt likening this to the “election interference” the DOJ had focused on.

Schmitt questioned whether Smith’s most recent superseding indictment that was filed against Trump this close to the election was an example of misconduct or dereliction of duty, which would allow Garland to remove him from office, according to the letter.

“While a federal judge has a ruling against his constitutional authority to act, the DOJ has, imprudently, acquiesced to Jack Smith’s rabid, political prosecution of President Trump,” the letter states. “His continued action has created a miniature constitutional crisis as a man with highly suspect constitutionality to act is like a dog after his bone antagonizing the Republican nominee for President (and a former President of the United States). He must be leashed.”

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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