During a Thursday House Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) took former FBI special counsel Jack Smith to task for his investigation into President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case and the January 6 Capitol riot.
Moore told Smith that he was "illegally appointed" as special counsel and then said that his move to issue a gag order against Trump, who at the time was vying to be president again, was an effort to influence the election.
"You were illegally appointed to serve as special counsel, since you were not confirmed by advice and consent of the Senate, as is stated in the Appointments Clause. You also issued an indictment against then-President Biden's most formidable political opponent. The candidate was President Trump. And you issued a gag order for President Trump during a 2024 election cycle. This was a major violation of President Trump's First Amendment rights and a poor attempt to outright censor the leading political candidate. These actions were nothing short of election interference."
Moore also lamented that Smith had reportedly tracked phone records of Republican members of Congress in his “Arctic Frost” investigation and said that Smith and his team had a "flagrant disregard of the Constitution," which he argued had damaged the public trust in the nation's justice system.
"Nine senators, including Senator Tuberville from my state of Alabama, and multiple Republicans of the House of Representatives had their phones subpoenaed, or records subpoenaed," he outlined. "Some, you seized their phones. Even then, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, one of the highest-ranking Republicans in the country, had his phone records subpoenaed, all for political gain. These subpoenas clearly violated the Speech and Debate Clause."
Moore continued, "These instances are not only the tip of the iceberg about you and your team's flagrant disregard of the Constitution. Mr. Smith, your actions have changed and damaged confidence in our justice system. Today, this committee will determine whether that damage was a result of reckless judgment, political bias or deliberate misuse of authority."
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