{"id":2583435,"date":"2026-03-24T17:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T17:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:25:34","slug":"watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Breaks Down 5 Ways Jack Smith Ripped Up Constitution"},"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\">20<\/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%2Fwatch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution%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=2583435&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>Margot Cleveland, The Federalist\u2019s Senior Legal Correspondent, testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that the Biden-era FBI and DOJ used what she called \u201clawfare\u201d to target President Trump, pointing to the Arctic Frost operation and broad subpoenas that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >reached toll records<\/a> of Republican senators and donor lists from GOP groups. She noted that republicans revealed in 2025 that the DOJ\/FBI had compiled an \u201cenemies list\u201d of Republicans as part of thes efforts, aimed at influencing Trump-related prosecutions. Cleveland criticized the prosecutors for overreach, highlighting subpoenas and nondisclosure orders that involved members of Congress and Republican organizations, and questioning whether the targets were properly informed or protected. She argued that the breadth of these intrusions violated constitutional rights, a view she contrasted with Supreme Court rulings just months earlier that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/broken-promises-biden-hasnt-revisited-presidential-immunity-despite-campaign-pledge\/\" title=\"Broken promises: Biden hasn&#039;t revisited ...ial immunity despite campaign pledge\">affirmed presidential immunity<\/a> for core acts and presumptive immunity for official acts, which she said undermined Jack Smith\u2019s prosecutorial approach. The piece is written by Brianna lyman, an elections correspondent for The Federalist, with context on Arctic Frost, jack Smith, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-rep-bob-barr-supreme-court-lets-uncle-sam-continue-to-hide-behind-state-secrets-shield\/\" title=\"Former Rep. Bob Barr: Supreme Court Lets Uncle Sam Continue To Hide Behind \u201cState Secrets\u201d Shield\">related legal<\/a> and political developments.  <\/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<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ySYVKK47pCM\">atp\/Youtube<\/a>&nbsp;       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/24\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Watch:%20Margot%20Cleveland%20Breaks%20Down%205%20Ways%20Jack%20Smith%E2%80%99s%20Witch%20Hunt%20Ripped%20Up%20The%20Constitution&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/24\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Watch:%20Margot%20Cleveland%20Breaks%20Down%205%20Ways%20Jack%20Smith%E2%80%99s%20Witch%20Hunt%20Ripped%20Up%20The%20Constitution&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/24\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/24\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Watch:%20Margot%20Cleveland%20Breaks%20Down%205%20Ways%20Jack%20Smith%E2%80%99s%20Witch%20Hunt%20Ripped%20Up%20The%20Constitution&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/24\/watch-margot-cleveland-breaks-down-5-ways-jack-smiths-witch-hunt-ripped-up-the-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The Federalist&rsquo;s Senior Legal Correspondent Margot Cleveland took the disgraced Biden-era FBI and DOJ to task on Tuesday during testimony before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in a hearing on the lawfare efforts against President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"rumble\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/rumble.com\/embed\/v75do1g\/?pub=88gnf\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>    <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After the 2020 election, an anti-Trump FBI agent named Tim Thibault attempted to use the Justice Department to destroy the president. Thibault&rsquo;s efforts led to the launch of Arctic Frost,&rdquo; Cleveland began.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2969586\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Senate Republicans <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/29\/100-times-worse-than-watergate-3-biggest-revelations-from-latest-arctic-frost-document-dump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">revealed<\/a> in late 2025 that Biden&rsquo;s DOJ and FBI compiled an &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/republicans-claim-biden-administration-enemies-list-unearthed-from-arctic-frost-investigation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enemies list<\/a>&rdquo; of Republicans, going so far as to seize phone records of several Republican senators as part of their &ldquo;get-Trump&rdquo; lawfare efforts. As Cleveland previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/29\/arctic-frost-docs-expose-breadth-of-biden-dojs-weaponization\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>, Arctic Frost was designed to &ldquo;target Republicans in key battleground states,&rdquo; and the investigation would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kenosha-wis-under-emergency-declaration-ahead-of-decision-in-jacob-blake-case\/\" title=\"Kenosha, Wis. under emergency declaration ahead of decision in Jacob Blake case\">ultimately lead<\/a> to Special Counsel Jack Smith&rsquo;s elector case against Trump.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As this committee well knows &mdash; because many of you were victims &mdash; Smith approved the subpoenas&rdquo; to obtain toll records from several Republican senators. Notably, a subpoena for records from Sen. Ted Cruz fell flat after Cruz&rsquo;s cellphone provider challenged the legality of the subpoena.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You also know that Smith&rsquo;s team sought a nondisclosure order from Chief Judge James Boasberg &mdash; apparently without informing him that the targets were members of Congress,&rdquo; Cleveland pointed out, adding that &ldquo;Cruz&rsquo;s request for the nondisclosure application to be unsealed has been ignored.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Judge Boasberg still failed to order Smith and his prosecutors to show cause for why they should not be held in contempt for concealing the members of Congress were the ones who were being targeted. This fact should not be ignored,&rdquo; she continued. Cleveland then questioned Boasberg&rsquo;s actions in light of the assertion that he did not know the identities of the subpoena targets. If he hadn&rsquo;t known the identities, Cleveland argued, he would likely &ldquo;enter a show-cause order to hold Smith accountable for violating your rights.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Notably, Smith also subpoenaed records from Republican organizations, including Turning Point USA, which &ldquo;revealed the donor base.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The breadth of these constitutional intrusions is unprecedented,&rdquo; Cleveland testified. <\/p>\n<p>Cleveland also critiqued Smith for habitually &ldquo;overstretch[ing] the meaning and intent of the law.&rdquo; As Cleveland noted, the Supreme Court ultimately invalidated Smith&rsquo;s &ldquo;theory of criminal liability&rdquo; and &ldquo;also halt[ed] Smith&rsquo;s efforts to prosecute Trump for actions that fell within the president&rsquo;s official duties.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Smith sought indictments of Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents and for using his free speech to question the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the first case entirely, ruling thatSmith&rsquo;s appointment was unconstitutional. Smith later dropped the 2020 election case, choosing not to pursue it after Trump won the 2024 election. Notably, the Supreme Court had issued a decision just months prior finding presidents have absolute immunity for core presidential acts and presumptive immunity for official acts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/arctic-frost\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Arctic Frost<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jack-smith\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Jack Smith<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Joe Biden<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/lawfare\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">lawfare<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/merrick-garland\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Merrick Garland<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ted-cruz\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Ted Cruz<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cleveland criticizes Biden-era FBI\/DOJ in Trump-lawfare<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2583436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-Untitled-60.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546,33651],"tags":[10034,8062,76479,71778,76478],"class_list":["post-2583435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","category-the-western-journal","tag-cleveland","tag-constitution","tag-fiveways","tag-jacksmith","tag-legalanalysis"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Copy-of-Untitled-60.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583435","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\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583435"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583439,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583435\/revisions\/2583439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}