{"id":2499188,"date":"2025-10-15T12:45:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T16:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-criticizes-supreme-court-immunity-decision\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T12:48:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T16:48:51","slug":"jack-smith-criticizes-supreme-court-immunity-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jack-smith-criticizes-supreme-court-immunity-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Smith criticizes Supreme Court immunity decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjack-smith-criticizes-supreme-court-immunity-decision%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2499188&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sidney-powell-is-an-american-legal-giant\/\" title=\"Sidney Powell Is an American Legal Giant\">special counsel<\/a> Jack Smith publicly criticized the U.S. Supreme Court&#8217;s July 2024 ruling that grants former presidents absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed while in office. Smith warned that this decision could make it nearly impossible to hold high-ranking officials accountable for wrongdoing, describing the ruling as effectively stating that powerful officials cannot be prosecuted. This marked Smith&#8217;s first public comments as former President Donald Trump&#8217;s return to the White House.<\/p>\n<p>Smith emphasized that the difficulty lies not in prosecuting officials who break the law thru proper legal processes, but in preventing retaliation tied to such prosecutions. During an October 2024 interview, Smith defended his investigations into trump&#8217;s handling of classified documents and the 2020 election interference allegations, rejecting claims that his work was politically motivated.He pointed to solid evidence supporting charges against Trump, contrasting it with a lack of similar evidence in the inquiry of President Joe biden.<\/p>\n<p>Smith also criticized current Department of justice (DOJ) leadership for political interference, citing recent controversial indictments and dismissals, and warned that such pressures are driving experienced prosecutors away. His remarks come amid Republican demands for him to testify about alleged politically motivated prosecutions, following disclosures that the FBI under his leadership obtained phone records from GOP lawmakers. Smith&#8217;s criticisms highlight ongoing tensions within the DOJ and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >legal battles surrounding trump-related prosecutions<\/a>, further intricate by judicial rulings that undermined his special counsel appointment and related indictments.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Jack Smith criticizes Supreme Court immunity decision in first remarks since Trump&rsquo;s return<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2368704\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former special counsel Jack Smith sharply criticized the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Supreme Court<\/a>&lsquo;s landmark decision that found that then former-President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> and other presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office, warning that the ruling could make it nearly impossible to hold powerful officials accountable.<\/p>\n<p>In his first public remarks since Trump&rsquo;s return to the White House, Smith said the justices&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/3030301\/supreme-court-finds-some-immunity-for-presidents-complicating-trump-indictment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">July 2024 majority opinion in <em>Trump v. United States<\/em><\/a>  &ldquo;strongly weighted the other considerations&rdquo; presented in the case rather than, in his view, the rule of law. Smith said the resulting ruling was &ldquo;tantamount to saying you can never prosecute powerful, high officials.&rdquo; The high court ultimately found that former presidents are not immune from prosecution for &ldquo;unofficial acts&rdquo; taken while in office but have absolute immunity from prosecution for &ldquo;official acts.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3850532\/what-to-know-trump-charges-john-bolton\/\">What to know as possible charges loom for ex-Trump adviser John Bolton<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3850002\/letitia-jamess-grandniece-willfully-avoiding-probation-living-in-virginia-home\/\">Letitia James&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/letitia-jamess-grandniece-willfully-avoiding-probation-living-in-virginia-home\/\" title=\"Letitia James&#039;s grandniece &#039;willfully avoiding&#039; probation living in Virginia home\u00a0\">grandniece &#8216;willfully avoiding&#8217; probation living<\/a> in Virginia home&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3849557\/judge-sides-with-james-comey-doj-sought-limit-discovery-access\/\">Judge sides with Comey after DOJ sought to limit his discovery access<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment, including four felony counts against former President Donald Trump, on Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;While I didn&rsquo;t agree with it, we followed it,&rdquo; Smith said during an Oct. 8 discussion at University College London with former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann. &ldquo;The problem is not prosecuting high officials who did something wrong when you do it according to the processes of law. It&rsquo;s the retaliation. That&rsquo;s the problem, and that&rsquo;s the thing that we should be preventing.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The interview, made public Tuesday, was Smith&rsquo;s first public appearance since his historic prosecutions of Trump were derailed by the president&rsquo;s reelection last year. The interview also comes as Smith faces renewed scrutiny from Republicans in Congress. The video was released on the same day that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-judiciary-committee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House Judiciary Committee<\/a> Chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jim-jordan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jim Jordan<\/a> (R-OH) demanded Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3849905\/house-judiciary-committee-demands-jack-smith-testimony\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testify about<\/a> what he called &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nathan-wade-nowhere-to-be-found-as-house-republicans-attempt-to-subpoena-him-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Nathan Wade nowhere to be found as House Republicans attempt to subpoena him - Washington Examiner\">politically motivated prosecutions&#038;rdquo<\/a>; after revelations that the FBI, under Smith&rsquo;s direction, obtained the phone records of nine GOP lawmakers in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DR79GW6SvxE?si=LXmnt71QD0jfmCAq\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>    <\/p>\n<p>Notably, Smith&rsquo;s reemergence into the public eye appears to be part of a multifaceted effort to push back against the Trump administration&rsquo;s handling of Justice Department affairs. One day after the interview was published, Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dmfDvRlqozU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appeared in a montage video<\/a> featuring other former DOJ prosecutors represented by the group Justice Connection, which has been described as a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrianNievesDOJ\/status\/1945557383112966563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1945557383112966563%7Ctwgr%5E05e9dd42f5a6b89c0ce52a9e8607103ec3fda807%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2F3474289%2Fsenate-judiciary-advances-five-trump-judicial-picks-emil-bove%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">political hit squad<\/a>&rdquo; by DOJ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3474289\/senate-judiciary-advances-five-trump-judicial-picks-emil-bove\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">staff in the current administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During the interview, Smith defended his investigations into Trump&rsquo;s handling of classified documents and alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, calling it &ldquo;absolutely ludicrous&rdquo; to suggest political motives influenced the cases.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The idea that politics would play a role in big cases like this &hellip; it&rsquo;s absolutely ludicrous,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;These are team players who don&rsquo;t want to do anything but good in the world.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Smith said there was &ldquo;tons of evidence&rdquo; showing Trump willfully retained classified materials and obstructed recovery efforts, while saying the same level of proof did not exist in special counsel Robert Hur&rsquo;s investigation of then-President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joe Biden<\/a>&lsquo;s handling of classified records. Hur declined to prosecute Biden over concerns that a jury would find the former president&rsquo;s memory too addled to reach a guilty verdict.<\/p>\n<p>While defending his record, Smith accused the DOJ, led by Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pam Bondi<\/a>, of &ldquo;throwing out the rules&rdquo; to reach desired outcomes. He pointed to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3848098\/judge-sets-james-comey-evidence-deadline-doj-seeks-limit-access\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey<\/a> and the dismissal of charges against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3846183\/eric-adams-relates-indictment-letitia-james\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York City Mayor Eric Adams<\/a> as examples of political interference.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Nothing like what we see now has ever gone on,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t say, &lsquo;I want this outcome, let me throw the rules out.&#8217;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Smith said career prosecutors initially declined to charge Comey before a recent Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, secured an indictment days before the statute of limitations expired.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That just reeks of lack of process,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Smith also warned that political pressure is driving career prosecutors out of the DOJ.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re being asked to do things they think are wrong,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When they&rsquo;re told, &lsquo;You&rsquo;ve got to get this outcome no matter what,&rsquo; that&rsquo;s so contrary to how we were all raised as prosecutors.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3849905\/house-judiciary-committee-demands-jack-smith-testimony\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE DEMANDS JACK SMITH TESTIFY OVER TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Smith&rsquo;s criticism comes more than a year after a separate ruling by U.S. District Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3278885\/judge-aileen-cannon-blocks-doj-releasing-jack-smith-special-counsel-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aileen Cannon<\/a>, a Trump appointee, found that he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel, a decision last summer that marked the beginning of the downfall of his Trump prosecutions. Cannon found that then-Attorney General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Merrick Garland<\/a> lacked constitutional authority to create the position without Senate confirmation, a sweeping decision that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3082471\/judge-dismisses-trump-classified-documents-case\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vacated the classified documents case against Trump in Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Following the Supreme Court&rsquo;s decision in <em>Trump<\/em>, Smith&rsquo;s indictment in Washington, D.C., fell apart after Trump won reelection and never made it to a jury trial.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Smith condemns Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2499189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP23361566741688.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[32204,32463,65268,37223,32275],"class_list":["post-2499188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-immunity-decision","tag-jack-smith","tag-judiciary-debate","tag-legal-criticism","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP23361566741688.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2499188"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2499192,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499188\/revisions\/2499192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2499189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2499188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2499188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2499188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}