Ex-federal prosecutor: Jack Smith charges ‘last thing’ Trump would want

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann dismissed the likelihood that criminal charges would be brought against former special counsel Jack Smith, saying that would be the “last thing” President Trump would want.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) confirmed this weekend it is investigating Smith, the former special counsel who brought two criminal cases against Trump, on allegations that he engaged in political activity through his investigations of the president.

Weissmann stressed in an interview on MSNBC the OSC is probing alleged violations of the Hatch Act, a civil statue, not looking into potential criminal charges.

“If they were actually to bring a case, this is the last thing that you would think the Trump administration and Trump, himself, would want,” Weissmann said.

Weissmann, who served on former special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, said he thinks Trump would take steps to avoid any public trial.

“He spent years trying to avoid, and largely being successful, avoiding any of these cases going to trial,” Weissmann said about Trump.

“And if he’s going to have a trial here, that’s going to be a forum for Jack Smith and people to put on the evidence that he has tried, for so long, to avoid,” Weissmann said.

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 by to oversee the investigations into Trump. Smith brought charges against Trump over his efforts to subvert the 2020 election and over his handling of classified documents after leaving office. The cases have since been dismissed.

Weissmann said he’s not surprised the OSC opened an investigation into Smith but said he doesn’t think the investigation will yield any results. He noted that judges had previously rejected allegations of selective prosecutions in Trump cases.