'Simply destroy the records': Pro-Trump AG lobs federal court attack at Jack Smith
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is showing his support for President-elect Donald Trump by lobbing a federal court attack at special counsel Jack Smith, court records show.
Paxton on Monday demanded a Texas federal court judge issue an emergency order forcing Smith to preserve all records of the two criminal court cases he brought against Trump, federal documents show.
“I will not allow the corrupt weaponization of the United States government to be swept under the rug as Jack Smith and others who unjustly targeted President Trump attempt to avoid accountability,” said Paxton in a statement.
“The American people deserve transparency, and those responsible for these unlawful witch hunts must not destroy the evidence of their own misdeeds.”
The Attorney General's office cites an NBC News report the attorneys claim cast suspicion on Smith as the orchestrater of a political witch hunt against Trump.
"It has been thoroughly reported that persons close to the incoming President believe that Jack Smith’s team has broken the law," the filing states.
But the URL citation leads to a Nov. 8 report detailing the many ways Trump's allies have promised to target prosecutors — among them Mike Davis, who used vulgar language to threaten New York Attorney General Letitia James with jail — without evidence.
"All of those people have claimed — without citing any specific evidence — that the federal prosecutions of Trump by Smith were politically motivated," the report notes.
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The report also notes Smith's team stands by its work but fears retribution.
"A person familiar with the thinking on Smith’s team — who spoke on condition of anonymity to recount sensitive conversations — said they are confident their work can withstand legal scrutiny," the report stated, "but are anxious about the expense and stress that often comes with being the target of a federal investigation."
Smith meanwhile has been quietly wrapping up his two federal cases — on election interference and Espionage Act violation charges — that Trump can easily kill upon reclaiming the White House in 2025.
The filing was filed to the Northern District of Texas Amarillo division, overseen by the Trump-appointed Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, courthouse records show.
"Attorney General Paxton...fears that many releasable records—including those that he sought—will never see daylight," the filing states.
"That is not because DOJ has any legal reason to withhold them. Rather, Attorney General Paxton has a well-founded belief as set forth herein that Defendants will simply destroy the records."
Meanwhile some legal experts warn such threats against Trump's prosecutors stink of authoritarianism.
"I view it as a cornerstone of our democracy," former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said of the Justice department. "It's something that autocratic regimes, its one of the first things you go after."
Others argue demands for documentation could blow up in Republicans' faces by revealing unsavory information about Trump.
"Such a proceeding may not be what Trump wants," wrote attorney Shan Wu, "given that it puts a renewed focus on acts that resulted in dozens of criminal charges against him, both federal and state."