Republicans Try to 'Sink' Jack Smith in Supreme Court With Taylor Swift
Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III is trying to "sink" Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith's request to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear former President Donald Trump's appeal in his federal election subversion case by comparing his authority to that of musical artist Taylor Swift.
Trump was indicted in August on four federal felony counts in the federal election subversion case, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights, all regarding his activities surrounding the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol while Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden's 2020 election win. The riot erupted after Trump made baseless claims that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud.
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the federal criminal in Washington, D.C., ruled this month that Trump did not have presidential immunity from prosecution. Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case brought against him by Smith.
Trump appealed Chutkan's ruling, but instead of his appeal going to a federal appellate court, Smith asked the Supreme Court to hear it in an effort to speed the process. Smith said his goal is to keep the March 4 trial date and not delay the case any longer than is necessary. However, Trump's lawyers claim that the case has "partisan motivation" as the trial falls at the peak of the 2024 presidential campaign season for their client, who is the GOP front-runner.
On top of Trump's lawyers urging the Supreme Court to not accept Smith's request, Meese, who served as U.S. attorney general in the Reagan administration, asked the Court to reject the request in a separate filing.
The Department of Justice declined comment.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesman via email for comment.
"This Court should reject Mr. Smith's request for certiorari before judgment for the simple reason that he lacks authority to ask for it," according to Wednesday's filing. "Nor does he have authority to conduct the underlying prosecution. Those actions can be taken only by persons properly appointed as federal officers to properly created federal offices."
The filing argued that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland "exceeded his statutory and constitutional authority" when he appointed Smith to serve as special counsel.
"Garland cited as statutory authority for this appointment 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, 515, and 533. But none of those statutes, nor any other statutory or constitutional provisions, remotely authorized the appointment by the Attorney General of a private citizen to receive extraordinary criminal law enforcement power under the title of Special Counsel," the filing said.
The filing concluded by comparing Smith's authority in the case to that of any other private citizen such as Swift.
"Not clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor," the filing said. "Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift, or Jeff Bezos. That fact is sufficient to sink Smith's petition, and the Court should deny review."
When Newsweek asked the counsel of record, attorney Gene Schaerr, via email why Meese found it necessary to create Wednesday's filing, Schaerr said: "Because, whatever one thinks of Mr. Trump or his behavior surrounding January 6, it's always important for the Attorney General to follow the Constitution and laws of the United States—especially when prosecuting a president or former president.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Garland didn't do that in selecting Mr. Smith. And this was the first opportunity to raise that point in a forum that was likely to take the concern seriously."
Garland appointed Smith, a former career Justice Department prosecutor, in November 2022 to investigate the riot and the classified documents that were found in Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022.
Garland picked Smith, instead of investigating the matters himself, to ensure "both independence and accountability."
"Based on recent developments, including the former President's announcement that he is a candidate for President in the next election, and the sitting President's stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel," Garland said in a press release at the time.
"Such an appointment underscores the Department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law."
Additionally, Republican Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and 18 other state attorneys general filed an amicus brief on Wednesday in support of Trump on the question of whether the Supreme Court should grant Smith's request.
The filing echoed what Trump's lawyers argued, saying that "the United States' demand for extraordinary and immediate relief is driven by partisan interests, not the public interest."
In a statement obtained by Newsweek via email, Marshall said: "When I read Jack Smith's petition, I kept waiting to see what reason he would give for his admittedly 'extraordinary' request that the Supreme Court depart from normal practice and decide this issue immediately. Shockingly, Smith never gave a reason.
"That is strong evidence his reason for fast-tracking Donald Trump's case is to tilt the presidential election to Biden. That would be an abuse of the prosecutor's power. And as a longtime prosecutor, I wanted to make sure the Court recognized as much."
Update 12/21/23, 2:56 p.m. ET: This article was updated with the DOJ declining comment.
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