Jack Smith shows his hand
“He lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring. He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent, and stunningly ignorant of virtually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events, or world affairs.” This is a quote from Jonathan Karl’s “Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party.” Karl is ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent, who visited Joy Reid on MSNBC’s The ReidOut” to discuss the book. He also shared that several senior members of Trump’s cabinet wanted to invoke the 25th Amendment due to his mental instability. Well, we’re seeing that every day, aren’t we? From his hateful Truth Social posts to his acknowledgement that he wants to be a dictator. Mental instability or not, he will be going to trial no matter how many crazy defenses he poses, the most ridiculous of which is immunity.
Trump’s defense of presidential immunity is flopping. What kind of defense is that anyway? He’s not saying he didn’t do what he’s been accused of but that he is immune to prosecution. Several courts have already ruled against immunity, and Mark Meadows received the same response from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Georgia. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan also denied the immunity defense, which Trump appealed to the Court of Appeals in D.C. As Jose Pagliery of the Daily Beast said, Trump is trying to use a defense that is no longer applicable to him as a former president.
To make matters worse for Trump, RawStory reported that a filing submitted by Jack Smith indicates that he plans to use testimony from members of Congress. This fact became evident when Smith asked that Trump’s lawyers be barred from asking questions that would breach the Speech and Debate Clause, which applies only to elected members of Congress. MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin believes that Smith may also be trying to protect Mike Pence, who is also protected by that clause. In this same filing, Smith moved the Court to bar Trump’s use of conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election. He further asked the Court to bar any testimony by Trump that he is “a target of unjust prosecution” and any allegations relating to election interference.
Smith wants the focus of this trial to remain on the facts of the case, not the crazy things running around in Trump’s head. He specifically addressed recently adopted conspiracy theories that claim the FBI was behind the January 6 insurrection and that undercover officers participated. All this is just more right-wing craziness that has been proven untrue. The final issue that Smith asked the Court to bar is any “evidence” from Trump that President Biden is using the government to target political adversaries. Trump has no such evidence, and these claims stand to do nothing but take the focus off Trump’s crimes. President Biden is not a party, and unlike Trump, he allows the other arms of the government to work as they see fit. Smith oversees this case, and no one can blame him for wanting to keep the focus where it belongs: on the real evidence.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years