Trump beware: Jack Smith won a major case in Europe for obstruction of justice and witness intimidation

Smith was named today by Attorney General Merrick Garland to take over two criminal investigations against Donald Trump. He will draw attention to his long career in prosecution, but one needn’t go past last May to find a major success that might be right on point for the charges against Trump.

Dating back to the Mueller Report, Trump has been accused on multiple occasions of obstruction of justice – and witness tampering – and while those accusations have not resulted in criminal charges, they’re an element of the ongoing probes against him regarding documents at Mar-A-Lago and the January 6 insurrection.

Smith has been a “Specialist Prosecutor” in the Hague, with“jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under Kosovo law, according to the website of the Specialist Chambers.

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In that role, Smith’s office last May obtained a guilty verdict for “obstructing official persons in performing official duties, intimidation during criminal proceedings and violating the secrecy of proceeding” against two former Kosovo Liberation Army leaders, Hysni Gucati & Nasim Haradinaj.

Although not high on the U.S. radar, the outcome was a substantial win in the arena of war crimes, as reported by Diplomat News in Europe. And it demonstrated acuity in law that might be critical if Trump were prosecuted.

Here’s how Smith was quoted at Diplomat News:

“Today justice was served. As stated by the Trial Panel today, the protection of witnesses from intimidation and harm lies at the very foundation of any system of criminal justice – the acts and conduct of the accused challenged that very foundation.”

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“The acts and statements, in this case, took place in a climate of intimidation, as found today by the judges,” Mr. Smith continued.

“The Kosovo Specialist Chambers has a unique ability to provide justice for victims because it represents a safe place where witnesses can speak openly about the crimes they saw and suffered through over 20 years ago.

“Intimidating or retaliating against such victims is, in my view, a gravely serious crime which strikes at the heart of this institution’s ability to do justice and the rule of law. If you seek to intimidate or retaliate against witnesses of this Court, I will do all that is in my power to assure you will ultimately find yourself brought to justice.”