The former special counsel Jack Smith has requested a public hearing before Congress — scaring Republicans who fear President Donald Trump's quest for vengeance is about to blow up in his face, according to a report.
Trump has maintained an obsession with humiliating and prosecuting his enemies. Generally, "his targets have not been in a position to inflict serious retributive pain on him," according to analysis by Glenn Thrush published Monday in The New York Times.
But Smith, who headed up investigations into Trump, is in a different position. He spent more than two years "aggressively collecting evidence to prove Mr. Trump mishandled classified documents and tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election." The former special counsel "appears eager to publicly challenge a foundational pillar of MAGA canon: that the president was a sinned-upon innocent who did nothing to deserve scrutiny, much less two prosecutions."
And among the GOP, some are worried.
"Some Republicans have privately expressed concern that Mr. Trump’s quest for vengeance could backfire by giving a credible anticorruption investigator an open mic," The Times reported.
Smith "has told people in his orbit that he welcomes the opportunity to present the public case against Mr. Trump denied to him by the Supreme Court decision asserting broad presidential immunity from prosecution and adverse rulings from a Trump-appointed judge on the federal bench in Florida."
And although Trump "has been able to order up investigations of his political enemies like Ubers," this could present a different situation entirely.
So far, Smith's request for a public hearing has not drawn a response.
“Name the time and place,” Lanny Breuer, a lawyer in Smith's legal team, said in a statement. “Jack will be there.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is expected to issue a subpoena instead of accepting Smith's public hearing request, and in that case, Smith would most likely not defy that, the report stated. However, the Senate could give Smith a public hearing before he has to make that decision.
