Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a complaint on Wednesday against special counsel Jack Smith for alleged election interference, The Hill reported. The Florida Republican accused Smith of rushing former President Donald Trump's case to trial in order to thwart his 2024 presidential bid.
Smith is alleging that Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump's attorneys have raised objections to the prosecution, arguing that he was immune at the time due to his position as president.
The Trump team has asked for the Supreme Court to intervene to decide the important question. However, this dispute could push the trial's start until after the November general election if the high court rejects Trump's claim.
Despite the seriousness of the matter to the future of the case, Smith has objected to any delay. Because Smith seems too eager to make sure the trial goes on, Gaetz has urged the Department of Justice inspector general to investigate.
Gaetz posted a statement to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday demanding action from Inspector General Michael Horowitz. "The witch hunt against President Trump by Attorney General Garland and Special Counsel Smith is a partisan exercise, and the American people know it," the lawmaker wrote.
"The actions of the Special Counsel Smith to speed up the trial against President Trump violate the DOJ’s rules and the law. His public comments and his office’s briefs before the Supreme Court demonstrate that he has no reason for his actions other than to unlawfully interfere in the 2024 presidential election," Gaetz added.
The post included the letter Gaetz sent to Horowitz, making his case that it's against the rules to time a trial in a way that would sway an election. "It is the core of prohibited conduct that a purpose (not the purpose) of any official action of a prosecutor be to affect any election," Gaetz wrote.
"It may be morally correct that the American people should see swift resolution of this case, perhaps with dropped charges or a Trump acquittal before the November 2024 Presidential election, but wielding Executive Branch authority in the service of this is a violation of law. Prosecutors must be held to a higher standard," Gaetz said.
BREAKING: Today I’m demanding the DOJ Inspector General Horowitz to investigate the election interference against President Donald J. Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The witch hunt against President Trump by Attorney General Garland and Special Counsel Smith is a partisan… pic.twitter.com/v5Ysg108BE
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 6, 2024
Gaetz is echoing arguments Trump's defense team made last month about Smith's motives for moving things along. A legal filing accused Smith of playing politics in his eagerness to see the trial begin before the facts of the case were settled.
"The Special Counsel’s latest filing raises a compelling inference of a political motive — the motivation to influence the 2024 Presidential election by bringing the leading Republican candidate to trial before November 5, 2024," Trump's defense wrote. The Supreme Court will hear Trump's case about the immunity claim on April 25, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, Trump has set leftists ablaze after he prevailed in another Supreme Court case over Colorado's ability to throw him off of the ballot. The high court decided that one state could not prohibit a national candidate from running for office, effectively stopping yet another attempt to disqualify Trump.
The claim was based on the idea that Trump participated in an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. However, the Supreme Court's decision reversed a lower court's ruling that sided with Colorado voters who wished to bar him from running.
The various cases against Trump are questionable at best in their merits. Smith's effort to play with the timing of the trial could indicate that it is indeed an effort to keep Trump from serving another term in the White House, just as many have suspected.
