Fox News contributor and legal commentator Jonathan Turley argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith is “obsessed” with convicting former President Donald Trump before the 2024 election because he fears Trump will pardon himself if he retakes the White House during a Monday afternoon appearance on America Reports.
Earlier in the day, Smith, who has indicted Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified information as well as for interfering in the 2020 presidential election, asked the Supreme Court to quickly rule on whether Trump is immune from criminal prosecution in an effort to speed up the proceedings.
Asked by Fox’s John Roberts for his thoughts on the request, Turley said that “it is not the regular order of things.”
“This matter was just filed before the D.C. Circuit, and then he decided that he wanted to leapfrog over the Court of Appeals and go directly to the Supreme Court. The only reason for that is that he is really focused entirely on trying Trump during this campaign and trying to convict him before the election,” he submitted. “The question is whether the Supreme Court’s going to feel that that is such an urgent priority that you actually bring this case before Super Tuesday. Usually the Supreme Court likes to hear from multiple Court of Appeals. They certainly want normally to hear from at least one on these issues. And so they may not have the same sense of priority
“Is there any reason other than politics to want to do that?” followed-up Roberts.
“Well, there’s a tactical reason,” replied Turley. “If Trump wins, he can pardon himself and then Smith will never see a jury in this case. I mean, so if Trump does prevail in the election, if he’s not convicted at that point, he can give himself a preemptory pardon. He doesn’t have to wait for the trial.”
Watch above via Fox News.