House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is demanding an ethics investigation into Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of attempting to expedite former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 criminal case in order to interfere with the 2024 election.
In an ethics complaint submitted on Tuesday, Stefanik accused Smith of pushing for an accelerated trial in violation of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which the chairwoman argued was a “lawless breach of trial ethics.” The complaint demands an investigation into Smith for possible misconduct and unlawful interference with the election.
“Jack Smith’s actions brought disrepute to the Justice Department and the federal government as a whole, and he should face discipline appropriately,” Stefanik wrote in the complaint, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner. “President Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for President, having won enough delegates to secure the nomination on March 12, 2024. As we will demonstrate, Biden special counsel Jack Smith is attempting to expedite the trial in order to influence the general election in November.”
Stefanik pointed to several instances in which Smith pushed for a trial start date far ahead of the election, accusing the special counsel of failing to apply the law and instead seeking to “get President Trump — and get him before November.”
“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,” Stefanik wrote. “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.”
Stefanik also accused Smith of unfairly rejecting a request by Trump to dismiss the trial on the basis of presidential criminal immunity for official acts. Smith declined Trump’s petition for certiorari, claiming there was “a compelling interest in the prompt resolution of this case.”
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