[u crank]

Jack Smith’s October Surprise

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opini...se/ar-AA1rDZyw

Jack Smith has failed in his quest to try Donald Trump before the 2024 election. So instead, the Special Counsel has bent ordinary procedure to get in one last shot, just weeks before voters go to the polls

The larger, if less obvious, headline is that Smith has essentially abandoned any pretense; he’ll bend any rule, switch up on any practice – so long as he gets to chip away at Trump’s electoral prospects. At this point, there’s simply no defending Smith’s conduct on any sort of principled or institutional basis.

Smith’s conduct here violates core DOJ principle and policy. The Justice Manual – DOJ’s internal bible, essentially – contains a section titled “Actions That May Have An Impact on the Election.” Now: does Smith’s filing qualify? May it have an impact on the election? Of course. So what does the rule tell us? “Federal prosecutors… may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of affecting any election.”

“To me if it [an election] were 90 days off, and you think it has a significant chance of impacting an election, unless there’s a reason you need to take that action now, you don’t do it.”

Sally Yates – former Deputy Attorney General