The new Trump special counsel is not starting from scratch. He is joining an ongoing investigation and most importantly has the power to indict Trump.
Andrew Weissmann tweeted:
The new Special Counsel, unlike Special Counsel Mueller, WILL be able to indict Trump as he is no longer POTUS and WILL NOT have to worry about being fired from one day to the next by sitting POTUS. And he inherits a large amount of evidence and a team that is in place already.
— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) November 19, 2022
There is a big misconception that the Jack Smith investigation is not going to be like Mueller in that it will take years and not result in an indictment, but Attorney General Garland made clear at his press conference on Friday that he expects that adding Smith to the investigation will cause no delay, because prosecutors already have a team in place, and they have been gathering evidence for months.
Most importantly, Smith doesn’t have to worry about being fired, and he has one thing that Robert Mueller never had. Jack Smith has the power to indict Donald Trump.
Trump is now a private citizen who can’t hide behind the presidency.
The fact that Republicans are freaking out and already threatening to shut down the government over the naming of the special counsel illustrates what a problem this development is for Trump and the GOP.
Jack Smith is not the same as Robert Mueller. The situations are totally different, and most of the griping over the appointment of the special counsel from the left has more to do with the fact that they wanted Trump indicted already than it does the reality of what indictment means for Donald Trump’s imperiled future.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
