Jack Smith Asks Court To Dismiss All Deadlines In Trump ‘J6’ Case
Special Counsel Jack Smith is in a tough spot now that President-elect Donald Trump has defeated Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Friday, Smith filed a request with the court to “vacate all deadlines” in his case against the president-elect, which appears to signal a winding down, CNN reported.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, the defendant is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025. The Government respectfully requests that the Court vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” prosecutors explained to federal District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
“By December 2, 2024, the Government will file a status report or otherwise inform the Court of the result of its deliberations,” they added.
Now, however, it’s Smith who finds himself “on the hot seat,” as House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who leads the investigation into the January 6 Committee, sent him a letter instructing him to “save his records.”
Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt shared his thoughts on the matter with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, suggesting that Smith could be facing legal consequences himself.
“Jack Smith is going to be the first person on this list. If he doesn’t show up to Congress then he will be in jail. They put Steve Bannon in jail. Those are the rules,” Hunt said.
In a biography released a week before the election, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell voiced support for Special Counsel Jack Smith, expressing hope that former President Trump would “pay a price” for his actions surrounding January 6th.
Axios reported that while “McConnell has long been a Trump critic… a new book throws his weight behind some of the most serious federal charges against Trump.”
“If he hasn’t committed indictable offenses, I don’t know what one is,” McConnell, the longest-serving Republican leader, told journalist Michael Tackett in an interview for The Price of Power, a few weeks after Smith filed charges against Trump in August 2023.
“From the start, McConnell thought the charges brought by federal prosecutors against Trump had merit,” Tackett wrote. McConnell reportedly said, “There’s no doubt who inspired it, and I just hope that he’ll have to pay a price for it,” referring to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
During the riot, an unarmed Trump supporter, Ashli Babbitt, a 36-year-old Air Force veteran, was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police lieutenant. Her family has since filed a $30 million wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. government.
“Tackett’s book reveals just how seriously McConnell considered voting to convict Trump of related impeachment charges in 2021,” Axios reported. “Conviction could have led to the Senate blocking Trump from running for office again.”
The GOP leader said in an interview for the book that he seriously considered conviction after the Capitol riot, saying, “I’m not at all conflicted about whether what the president did is an impeachable offense. I think it is.”
McConnell argued that Trump incited supporters to assault the Capitol, calling it “about as close to an impeachable offense as you can imagine.” However, Trump did not directly call for the Capitol storming; instead, during a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse, he urged supporters to “march peacefully” to the Capitol to have their voices heard.
Ultimately, McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, voted to acquit, reasoning that Trump had already left office by that time.