On Friday, House Republicans called for the release of all correspondences between Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Department of Justice (DOJ) under Merrick Garland, concerning the decision to indict former President Donald Trump.
In June, Jack Smith, who has been described as a representative of the Deep State, indicted Trump on 37 federal counts in Miami. The charges against Trump included 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and six other process crimes, which were linked to his discussions with his attorney.
In August, Smith further charged Trump with three additional counts related to an investigation into classified documents stored at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. The superseding indictment, filed in the Southern District of Florida, alleges that Trump was involved in a scheme to erase security footage from Mar-a-Lago.
In September, Trump faced four more counts in Smith's January 6 case in Washington, D.C. These charges included conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
In a letter addressed to Smith, the House Oversight Committee stated, "The Supreme Court has consistently overturned criminal convictions against public officials and private parties based upon broad theories of prosecution brought under general criminal statutes. Yet you have used just such a theory in your prosecution of President Trump, relying on a general conspiracy statute to allege a conspiracy to defraud the United States."
The lawmakers further wrote, "The Supreme Court has held past attempts to prosecute under such a theory exceeded the reach of the statutes on which they were based, including overly expansive definitions of 'official acts.'"
The Committee expressed its interest in understanding whether the Department had considered the Supreme Court's parameters when deciding to prosecute the former President. They also sought any analysis that was developed to determine that the use of the general conspiracy statute conformed to the principles outlined in these cases.
The Committee requested all documents and communications related to Smith's authority to empanel a grand jury in the United States District Courts for the District of Columbia and the Southern District of Florida. They also asked for all documents and communications concerning Smith's authority to offer immunity, pursuant to 18 U.S. Code 6002, to individuals testifying before either grand jury.
Furthermore, the Committee sought all documents and communications concerning any oversight by the DOJ regarding these topics, specifically including all documents and communications exchanged between Smith's office and the Department concerning the decision to indict Trump.
The GOP lawmakers have given Smith until December 15 to provide all the requested documents.
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