House GOP readies to throw everything and the kitchen sink at Jack Smith

House Republicans plan to pull out all the stops in an effort to discredit Jack Smith with a multi-pronged, scorched-earth attack on the special counsel that figures to include issuing subpoenas and cutting funding to his office in an effort to thwart his prosecution of Donald Trump, CNN reports.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is seeking to force Smith to testify or provide information about the special counsel’s investigation, according to the report.

The far-right congressman has already demanded that Department of Justice provide his panel with information about the investigation of the former president.

“All options are on the table,” Jordan said.

The effort to compel Smith’s testimony appears to have House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Ca.) blessings.

“Why did he think President Trump should be treated differently than anybody else? I think the American public does need to know,” McCarthy told reporters in what CNN described as a false claim of equivalency between Smith’s probe and a separate ongoing special counsel investigation of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.

Annie Grayer and Melanie Zanona write for CNN that, “The 37-count federal indictment, which includes allegations that Trump obstructed justice, also reignited a push on the right to use spending bills to cut funding to federal law enforcement – a rallying cry for the far right, which has long framed the DOJ and FBI as 'weaponized' against conservatives. Jordan told CNN his Judiciary Committee staff has been working with Appropriations Committee staff on key policy riders that would affect funding for DOJ among other federal agencies. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a fierce acolyte of the former president, is proposing Congress defund the special counsel’s office, an idea she has raised with Jordan and the far-right House Freedom Caucus during a weekly meeting that turned into a strategy session of how best to defend the former president.”

Greene told CNN that Trump is “very supportive” of the idea of using the power of the purse strings to hobble Smith.

The far-right congresswoman wants the House Freedom Caucus to take an official position on the proposal, which she also proposed to McCarthy during a Tuesday afternoon meeting at the Speaker’s office.

“Everybody’s open to it,” Greene reportedly told CNN. “It’s all about appropriations. That’s the only power Republicans have is appropriations and so that’s where I think we have to work.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), also a Trump loyalist, is pressing his party’s leadership to join the efforts to impede Smith.

“It’s something I believe in, and I hope House Republicans will rally to that legislative device,” Gaetz told CNN.

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