Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed superseding indictments against former President Donald Trump, despite a federal judge previously ruling Smith was unlawfully appointed to pursue. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding to know who authorized this new indictment.
In July, Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed to his prosecution of Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 Election. As Fox News described, the prosecutor filed a new, amended indictment into a separate probe, which Rep. Gaetz suggests has even less legal validity in his letter.
"It is unclear what authority Special Counsel Smith has to file either of these briefs or to provide services to the Department of Justice," the Florida Congressman wrote.
As a result, Rep. Gaetz demanded that AG Garland turn over any written authorization or legal opinions that were cited in allowing Smith to continue pursuing Trump, and if Smith's office consulted with Garland, the Deputy Attorney General, or the Public Integrity Section when considering the filing of the new indictment.
Republicans have long scoffed at Smith's case against Trump as "election interference," with Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) calling the Special Counsel "a lunatic" in August 2023.
"Jack Smith is the prosecutor who will try to go after any possible thing. And frankly, he is somewhat of a lunatic. We saw this when he went after Bob McDonnell, the former Governor of Virginia, and that case had to be thrown out. At the end of the day, the reason why Merrick Garland chose Jack Smith is because Jack Smith will do anything, and I mean anything, to try and get a conviction," Rep. Donalds previously said.
More recently, in March, Gaetz demanded Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz investigate Smith for election interference, particularly as the prosecutor sought to hold Trump's trial before the November election.
"Quite apart from any innuendo or conjecture (and it is wildly clear to the American public that no legitimate purpose exists for Smith's investigation), a brief of the Special Counsel, before the Supreme Court of the United States, itself tacitly concedes a violation of Departmental rules," Gaetz said in March.
