As he prepares to resign before Donald Trump takes office on January 20 of next year, Special Counsel Jack Smith has a way to make sure that Trump has to make a painful choice as he attempts to get the federal criminal cases against him permanently dismissed.
That’s the word from former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, who explained what Smith is likely to do in his last days as special counsel.
Speaking with MSNBC’s Katie Phang, McQuade explained the two choices Smith has.
“I have heard from a number of people saying, why should Jack Smith pull the plug on his own case, why not just let Trump just fire him, make him go through that exercise so that people can see that it was Trump who ended this?” she noted. “And I think it is because Jack Smith can have a lot more control if he ends it on his own terms.”
“There are a couple of things he can do,” McQuade continued. “One, as you say, is to issue a full-throated report on both of the cases; the January 6th election interference case, as well as the documents case in Florida ––those two things. The other thing he could do, Katie, and I don’t know if this would withstand all of the machinations that Trump will certainly try to put up against it –– to dismiss the cases without prejudice, and make the argument later that the statute of limitations is tolled during the Trump presidency and revive the cases in 2029.”
“I think there is a 50-50 shot that succeeds, so if he ends it now with prejudice, that keeps those cases alive. It would put the Trump administration in the untenable spot of either accepting that or having to refile the cases just so they can dismiss them with prejudice.”
McQuade concluded, “So, we will see how that goes, but I think this keeps Jack Smith’s hands in control rather than leaving it in the hands of the next Department of Justice.”
In other words, the federal case against Donald Trump is far from finished, and it could well be restarted once he leaves the White House in 2029.
The bar of justice isn’t finished with the disgraced felon president-elect.
Here’s the video of McQuade’s conversation with Phang:
