(Headline USA) Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed an ethics complaint against special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday, asking the Justice Department to investigate him for violating the agency’s policies on election interference.
In a letter sent to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility, Stefanik accused Smith of “abusing the resources of the federal government to unlawfully interfere with the 2024 presidential election” by prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
Smith has filed charges against Trump in two separate cases, one for mishandling classified information, and the other for the former president’s alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol.
Stefanik argued that Smith has used his authority as special counsel not just to bring the charges against Trump, but also in an effort to expedite the cases’ timelines.
“Jack Smith’s multiple attempts to rush to trial the federal January 6th case against President Trump violated long-standing, explicit Justice Department policy,” she wrote.
“Further, Jack Smith’s repeated violations of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia’s stay of proceedings are a lawless breach of trial ethics and lawyerly conduct,” she continued. “Jack Smith’s actions brought disrepute to the Justice Department and the federal government as a whole, and he should face discipline appropriately.”
Smith’s Jan. 6 case has been delayed as the Supreme Court weighs Trump’s argument that he is immune to criminal prosecution for actions taken while in the White House.
The high court’s hearing last week offered strong indications that it would be sent back down to the appellate level for further consideration, which likely means it would not be heard prior to the November election. If Trump wins, it thus has a strong chance of being dismissed altogether.
Smith has petitioned the justices multiple times to reject Trump’s immunity claims so he can move forward with the trial before the election.
Stefanik pointed out that even if the Supreme Court had not been asked to weigh in on the Jan. 6 case, Smith’s timeline still would have been unprecedented.
“There exist approximately thirteen million pages of discovery for President Trump to review, plus thousands of hours of camera footage,” she wrote.
“Prosecutors bringing a case of this complexity—with so many consequential and novel legal issues to sort out—would normally never seek to bring it to trial within five months,” she continued. “The only reason to push for such an early trial date was to work to get the case tried before the November election, and the Justice Department Manual clearly forbids Jack Smith from taking any action on that basis.”
