Former special counsel Jack Smith got a resounding cheer from Salon's Troy Farah on Wednesday — who noted that he is actually meting out "consequences" to Republicans who have spent years trying to rewrite the narrative against anyone who investigated President Donald Trump.
The GOP has been trying to claim the criminal cases against the president were witch hunts for political purposes — a story they have stuck to while ignoring Trump's Justice Department as it blatantly conducts political prosecutions. But Smith laid down the line clearly in Tuesday's hearing.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation,” said Smith. “If asked whether to prosecute a former president today, based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.” Democrats on the Senate panel backed him up, chastising Republicans who attempted to cast aspersions on his character.
"Maybe this all seems like theatrics, more fodder for the cable news spectacle," Farah wrote. "But the stakes for Smith are real, and this charade could also carry severe consequences for Americans."
Trump, after all, is launching an endless stream of politically motivated investigations of his own, and "by playing the victim, the president benefits from controlling the narrative, and perhaps rewriting history, which becomes even more critical as we approach the midterms, and he continues promoting the lie that he won the 2020 election," Farah continued. "So Smith continuing to give the president and his MAGA trolls the proverbial finger isn’t just satisfying — it’s necessary."
The hearing on Tuesday saw its most spectacular moment when Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) tried to ambush him with supposed proof he was at a Hawks game in Atlanta to build a case he was illicitly colluding with Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis — only to faceplant as it turned out he was actually at a Hawkeyes away game in Maryland.