‘No One Should Be Above the Law’: Jack Smith Torches Trump in Blistering Opening Statement

Former special counsel Jack Smith excoriated President Donald Trump in a blistering opening statement delivered before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning.

Smith, who brought criminal charges against Trump over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the January 6 Capitol riot, as well as over his retention of classified documents after leaving the presidency in 2021, did not mince words on Thursday.

“I’m proud of the work my team did, and I appreciate the opportunity to appear here today to correct false and misleading narratives about our work. During my tenure as special counsel, we followed Justice Department policies, we observed legal requirements, and took actions based on the facts and the law. I made my decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election. President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold,” began Smith, who continued:

Grand juries in two separate districts reached this conclusion based on his actions, as alleged in the indictments they returned. Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power. After leaving office in January of ’21, President Trump illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club, and repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents. Highly sensitive national security information was held in a ballroom and a bathroom.

As I testify before the committee today, I want to be clear. I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican. No one, no one should be above the law in this country and the law required that he be held to account, so that is what I did. To have done otherwise, on the facts of these cases, would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and as a public servant, of which I had no intention of doing.

I remain grateful for the counsel, judgment and advice of my team. President Trump has sought to seek revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents, and support staff simply for having worked on these cases. To vilify and seek retribution against these people is wrong. Those dedicated public servants are the best of us, and it has been a privilege to serve with them. After nearly 30 years of public service, including in international settings, I have seen how the rule of law can erode. My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it. It requires dedicated service on behalf of others, especially when that service is difficult and comes with costs. Our willingness to pay those costs is what tests and defines our commitment to the rule of law and to this wonderful country.

Watch above via Fox News.

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