Staff Reports
Watching Jack Smith slump into the witness chair before the House Judiciary Committee was like watching a symptom of something far worse than one man’s hubris — it was the public unraveling of a Justice Department that has been allowed to drift from its only legitimate purpose: equal justice under the law. Smith came to the Hill proclaiming fidelity to the rule of law, but his actions while hunting a political opponent told a different story that everyday Americans already know all too well.
The record is plain: Special Counsel Smith pursued two sprawling prosecutions of Donald Trump — one tied to the events of January 6 and another over classified documents — only to see those cases collapse once the political winds changed and a policy against prosecuting a sitting president took hold. For conservatives who believe in due process, the obvious question is why such aggressive charges were hurled the way a campaign ad is hurled: timed, relentless, and designed to wound.
Republican members of the committee, including Rep. Michael Baumgartner, pressed Smith hard and pointed to the unmistakable appearance of election-year prosecutorial timing that did nothing but inflame the country and undermine confidence in our institutions. Hardworking Americans are fed up with political operatives wearing robes or badges and pretending their vendettas are matters of impartial justice; Baumgartner and others rightly exposed the danger of letting prosecutors chase headlines at the expense of constitutional norms.
We were reminded of other overreaches: Smith’s bid for a sweeping gag order and his seizure of lawmakers’ phone records read less like careful, neutral law enforcement than like tactics out of an Orwellian playbook. When even civil libertarians warn about First Amendment consequences and national security lawyers raise eyebrows at the breadth of subpoenas, you know the enterprise has veered into politically motivated theater rather than sober law enforcement.
Smith insists he followed the facts and the law, yet the aftermath of his crusade — sealed reports, withdrawn charges, and now a Justice Department posture that scrambles to keep his work hidden — speaks loudly to those who care about transparency. The DOJ’s own filings opposing the release of Smith’s documents only deepen the suspicion that this was less about accountability and more about shaping outcomes, and that must be answered for the sake of the republic.
If Jack Smith believed he was defending democracy, the sight of his office trying to force prosecutions at politically convenient moments did more than fail to protect democracy — it endangered it. Conservatives should not cheer lawlessness wrapped in blue-letter justifications any more than liberals should when it’s wrapped in red; what we saw was a dangerous precedent where political objectives trump the civil liberties and fair process that make our nation exceptional.
Now is the time for Republicans in Congress and patriotic Americans across the country to demand accountability, not for revenge, but to restore the impartiality of our courts and the integrity of our justice system. Hold hearings, secure the records, and let the people decide at the ballot box whether they will tolerate a Department of Justice that acts like a political arm instead of a guardian of the rule of law. The future of our republic depends on it.
