Thereโs no denying at this point that things are developing very quickly in Special Counsel Jack Smithโs investigations into scandal-ridden former President Donald Trump, following his appointment to the position by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, to spearhead the Justice Departmentโs numerous investigations into the corrupt ex-commander in chief.
In fact, following an extremely aggressive subpoena issued against Trump by Smith following the discovery of even more classified materials at the ex-presidentโs Mar-a-Lago estate, this time stowed away in Trumpโs private residential quarters of the Palm Beach golf club, legal experts have reached a general consensus that Smithโs aggression in these investigations indicates that he will leave โno stone unturned.โ
But according to the experts, there are even deeper signals from Jack Smith than what meets the eye.
Recently, we reported on the bombshell news that Special Counsel Smith had officially issued a subpoena against Donald Trumpโs former vice president and right-hand man, Mike Pence, compelling the ex-VP to appear and testify under oath before a special grand jury. Itโs expected that this subpoena will ultimately serve as the catalyst that officially turns Pence against Trump, as the former VP enjoys no privileges that could possibly protect him from very real, very serious charges of contempt should he refuse to comply.
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Now, the experts are saying that Smithโs recent moves are a clear signal that the special counsel is not only moving far faster and with far more force than initially expected, but that he is closing in on the corrupt former president with genuine force โ meaning official โcriminal chargesโ against Donald Trump โare close.โ
As the news of the Pence subpoena broke, Former FBI agent Peter Strzok warned that going after Trumpโs vice president was the โlast stepโ before going after the big guy himself. Michigan Law School professor and former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade echoed that sentiment in an interview with Newsweek.
โIt signals that DOJ is seriously considering criminal charges against Trump for January 6,โ McQuade said.โWhile it does not mean charges are a certainty, DOJ would not take such a significant step as subpoenaing a former VP if they thought the case was unlikely to result in charges. It also suggests that charges are close. Prosecutors typically question the top witnesses at the end of the investigation after they have learned as much as they can about the facts.โ
The former president has been desperate to wield his โexecutive privilegeโ to protect himself from the wide-reaching cases against him, that are threatening to bury him alive. But the fact of the matter is, Donald J. Trump enjoys no such privileges. Not anymore, anyway. Any claims to โexecutive privilegeโ Trump once had went by the wayside the moment President Joe Biden took office, following his defeat of Trump in the 2020 presidential election. The only person who bears such a privilege is the president himself.
Not only is Biden the only one who possesses executive privilege, he is the only one who can choose to bestow it as well โ and the president has already made it crystal clear that he fully absolves any such privileges in connection to the barbaric, violent January 6th attack on the nationโs Capitol and Congress, and any and all investigations into Donald Trump and his alliesโ attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.
This, of course, hasnโt stopped Trump from attempting to invoke privileges he doesnโt have anyway. However, the former president has repeatedly been slammed off his pedestal at every turn โ including by the US Supreme Court that he purposely and intentionally stacked to look more like a branch of the Republican Party than a branch of the US federal government. But even SCOTUS wouldnโt save him, refusing to uphold the ex-presidentโs unhinged demands to invoke executive privilege for not only himself, but also to stop any of his former White House staffers or political appointees from testifying before the now-dissolved January 6th House Select Committee in their investigation into the deadly Capitol attack.
McQuade further explained, โBiden will decline, I am sure, and if it goes to court, I think Trump will lose based on the courtโs earlier decision that Trump could not use executive privilege to block the National Archives from producing documents to the Jan 6 Committee.โ
Should Trump ultimately decide to fight his way back to the Supreme Court yet again in the matter, not only will he almost undoubtedly lose, precedent hailing all the way back to the infamous Nixon Watergate scandal would back up his demise.
Read McQuadeโs full analysis with Newsweek here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery