Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed an ethics complaint with the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility on Tuesday against special counsel Jack Smith, accusing him of attempting to “unlawfully interfere with the 2024 presidential election” by rushing to bring former President Donald Trump to trial in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 incidents at the Capitol.
In a statement announcing the complaint, Stefanik said, “It’s obvious to any reasonable observer that Jack Smith is trying to interfere with the 2024 election and stop the American people from electing Donald Trump. At every turn, he has sought to accelerate his illegal prosecution of President Trump for the clear (if unstated) purpose of trying him before the November election.”
Stefanik argued that Smith, through his push to bring court cases against Trump, is violating a section of the DOJ’s manual that prohibits attorneys from selecting the timing of any action for the purpose of affecting an election.
“Smith’s conduct has brought disrepute to the Department of Justice and the entire federal government, and the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility should impose the discipline that such conduct warrants,” she said.
In the complaint, Stefanik alleged that Smith first violated the policies in August 2023 when he petitioned the court for a January 2, 2024, trial date, despite the existence of approximately thirteen million pages of discovery for Trump to review, plus thousands of hours of camera footage.
“Prosecutors bringing a case of this complexity – with so many consequential and novel legal issues to sort out – would normally never seek to bring it to trial within five months. The only reason to push for such an early trial date was to work to get the case tried before the November election,” Stefanik argued.
She further claimed that Smith violated the DOJ provision in December by petitioning the Supreme Court to fast-track Trump’s immunity arguments, which the court denied.
However, when Trump later petitioned on the issue of presidential immunity, Smith opposed the move, citing the nation’s “‘compelling interest’ in the ‘prompt resolution of this case.'”
Stefanik questioned the existence of a “compelling interest” in the prompt resolution of the case, aside from the upcoming election, and argued that this interest should not override the due process rights of a criminal defendant.
The complaint filed by Stefanik highlights the spiraling political tensions surrounding the legal cases against former Trump and their potential impact on the 2024 presidential election.