Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s “political prosecution” of former President Donald Trump has “backfired” on Democrats.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear Smith’s petition to review a district court ruling by judge Tanya Chutkan rejecting a motion by Trump’s attorneys to dismiss a four-count indictment the special counsel secured Aug. 3. The high court requested Trump’s attorneys respond to Smith’s request by Dec. 20. (RELATED: Fox News Legal Analyst Says Jack Smith’s Supreme Court Filing ‘Smacks Of Election Interference’)
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“This is a very unusual step, you know, former prosecutor, attorney general, these cases in federal court, run-of-the-mill gun cases or carjacking cases can take years, and so Jack Smith is on this mission to have this trial be held in March, which is unrealistic to say the least,” Schmitt told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow. “And typically when you have questions like this, let’s say this issue of presidential immunity is being discussed here and at issue, you would have a ruling.”
Schmitt noted that the normal appellate process included review by a three-judge panel from the court of appeals, then a potential hearing by the entire panel of judges, before it would be heard by the Supreme Court.
“That doesn’t fit into the timeline [of] that Jack Smith political prosecution,” Schmitt said. (RELATED: Jack Smith Collected Images, Website Visits And Usage Data From Trump’s Cellphone, Filing Reveals)
Trump’s attorneys said Smith was trying to rush an “unconstitutional and fundamentally unfair trial” to influence the outcome of the 2024 election in a Tuesday court filing.
“This is all part of trying to affect the election, and so it is very unusual,” Schmitt said. “We’ll see where this goes but I just think it’s sad, and I also think it is worth pointing out, Larry, all this stuff backfired on the Democrats.”
.@realDonaldTrump”s got this. https://t.co/SAJ7NxRqXe
— Eric Schmitt (@Eric_Schmitt) December 8, 2023
“President Trump is going to win the nomination,” Schmitt added.
President Joe Biden is currently trailing Trump by 2.4% in the RealClearPolitics average of general election polls from Nov. 8 to Dec. 10.
The Supreme Court threw out the conviction Smith secured against then-Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia in a unanimous decision.
“I don’t think this works legally,” Schmitt said. “These cases fall apart on scrutiny. They pick venues where they think they will be successful. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will have the final say. From a political perspective, I think it backfired.”
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