Government probes Trump prosecutor Jack Smith over alleged Hatch Act violations: Report
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Saturday officials would look into Smith's potential violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts government employees from political involvement, according to NBC News.
The office did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment.
The investigation comes after Trump and his allies have previously alleged that Smith went after Trump without legal standing in an effort to thwart his second campaign for the presidency.
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith three days before the president announced his reelection bid.
Still, GOP lawmakers said the special prosecutor needs to be investigated.
'Jack Smith's legal actions were nothing more than a tool for the [former President] Biden and [former Vice President] Harris campaigns. This isn't just unethical, it is very likely illegal campaign activity from a public office,' Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote in a Wednesday post on the social media platform X.
'Special Counsel Smith pushed for an out-of-the-ordinary, rushed trial for President Trump, with jury selection to begin just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. No other case of this magnitude and complexity would come to trial this quickly,' the Arkansas senator added in a separate post.
However, Smith has long defended his actions.
'The ultimate decision to bring charges against Mr. Trump was mine. It is a decision I stand behind fully,' Smith wrote in his final report published in mid-January, adding that Garland nor anyone else at the Justice Department pushed him to prosecute Trump.
'To all who know me well, the claim from Mr. Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.'
Smith ultimately resigned from the Justice Department (DOJ) after Trump's November win and dismissed charges against the president-elect arguing that he believed he would have scored a conviction against the leader if the legal battles played out in court.
'The throughline of all of Mr. Trump's criminal efforts was deceit-knowingly false claims of election fraud-and the evidence shows that Mr. Trump used these lies as a weapon to defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States' democratic process,' Smith wrote.
'Until Mr. Trump obstructed it, this democratic process had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner for more than 130 years,' he added.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired 20 additional employees tied to Smith weeks before the Office of Special Counsel said it would investigate the prosecutor.
The independent agency can only research Smith's actions and seek disciplinary actions for the federal employee. Investigators can then present findings to the DOJ for criminal charges.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump attacks ‘woke' Jaguar as carmaker names first Indian chief
Jaguar Land Rover has appointed its first Indian chief executive as Donald Trump accused the company of being in 'absolute turmoil' following a 'woke' marketing campaign. PB Balaji, chief financial officer at the the carmaker's Indian owners, Tata Motors, is to take up the post in November as Jaguar deals with the fallout of a rebrand in which it ditched its big cat logo and embraced a new hot pink aesthetic. On Monday, the US president contrasted the fortunes of Britain's Jaguar with American Eagle, a US clothing brand that recently saw its share price surge after debuting an advertising campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney. Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform: 'Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the 'HOTTEST' ad out there. It's for American Eagle, and the jeans are 'flying off the shelves.' Go get 'em Sydney! 'On the other side of the ledger, Jaguar did a stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement, THAT IS A TOTAL DISASTER! The CEO just resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil. Who wants to buy a Jaguar after looking at that disgraceful ad.' It comes days after Adrian Mardell, the 64-year-old boss of Jaguar Land Rover, announced his intention to retire. Under Mr Mardell, the car company sought to shake off its traditional image as a brand for 'Jag Men' and instead target a younger demographic. As part of plans to relaunch the brand, Jaguar last year debuted an advertising campaign depicting a bright pink, Mars-like landscape and catwalk models wearing unusual, brightly coloured clothing – but no car. The clip was widely mocked online. Jaguar has also ditched its jumping cat logo and last December debuted a 'Barbie pink' concept car at Miami Art Week. Credit: Jaguar Critics have accused Jaguar of abandoning its core customers. Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, accusing Jaguar of going 'absolutely bonkers … showing a bunch of weirdos'. He predicted that the carmaker would 'now go bust. And you know what? They deserve to'. The appointment of Mr Balaji marks the first time Tata Motors has appointed a Jaguar Land Rover leader from within its own ranks since buying the two distinguished British brands from Ford at the height of the financial crisis. Mr Balaji, a mechanical engineering graduate, has worked at Tata Motors for almost eight years and has overseen a turnaround at JLR's parent company. The company has long been a dominant player in the Indian car market but was loss-making when he arrived. Tata Motor's share price has soared around 270pc since he arrived. At Jaguar, Mr Balaji must oversee a make-or-break relaunch of the brand. New Jaguars are currently unavailable in the UK as the carmaker prepares to launch an all-electric range next year. On Monday, Mr Trump said that Jaguar should have 'learned a lesson from Bud Lite, which went Woke and essentially destroyed, in a short campaign, the Company.' Two years ago, Bud Lite enraged Right-wingers in America and saw its sales plummet after it used transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in its marketing. Mr Trump said on Truth Social: 'The tide has seriously turned – Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be.' His comments also came after it emerged that Ms Sweeney was a registered Republican. Records uncovered over the weekend show she registered with the party in June last year. Shares in American Eagle jumped 17pc after the president's endorsement. Jaguar Land Rover's sales dipped to £25.2bn for the year to March 31, down from £25.7bn a year earlier. The company said this was driven by 'the prioritisation of higher margin vehicles'. More recently, the company's business has been hugely disrupted by US tariffs. JLR's sales to the US were temporarily paused in April after Mr Trump announced a 25pc tariff on car imports. The British carmaker sells around 100,000 vehicles each year in the US and the trade war put some £6.5bn in sales at risk. The US-UK trade deal secured a 10pc tariff for the first 100,000 British vehicles exported, seen as predominantly benefitting JLR. Aston Martin has pushed for rules to stop the system becoming 'a JLR tariff agreement'. Last week, the company said: 'Adrian Mardell has expressed his desire to retire from JLR after three years as CEO and 35 years with the company.' Jaguar Land Rover has been approached for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump set to announce replacement for Fed Gov Kugler this week. The Fed chair in waiting?
President Trump said he plans to name a replacement this week for Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler, whose unexpected resignation set for this Friday offers the president an opportunity to put in place a successor for Fed Chair Jerome Powell. 'I have a couple of people in mind,' President Trump told reporters Sunday night. 'I'll be announcing that probably over the next couple of days.' Kugler's term as a governor was set to expire on Jan. 31. She has served as a Fed governor since Sept. 13, 2023, and will return to Georgetown University as a professor this fall. Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, and Kevin Hassett, the current chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, are thought to be at the top of the list for the next Fed chair and thus possible nominees to replace Kugler. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the search for Powell's replacement and is also a potential contender, has already sketched out a scenario where the White House appoints someone to fill Kugler's seat who can then be in the running to succeed Powell next May. The White House also hopes that Powell decides to leave the Fed Board of Governors when his chairmanship is up, which would open up a second seat that Trump can fill. Powell has not yet said whether he intends to do that; his term as a Fed governor is not up until 2028. Read more: How much control does the president have over the Fed and interest rates? Warsh already has a lot of experience navigating the central bank. He served as Fed governor from 2006 until 2011 and became former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke's liaison to Wall Street during the chaos of the 2008 financial crisis. He is also a known figure to Trump, who interviewed him for the Fed chair post eight years ago before deciding on Powell. Trump appointed Powell to be Fed chair in 2018 at the direction of then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Former President Joe Biden reappointed Powell in 2022. Warsh has been critical of the Fed as of late. He has suggested that the Fed could look through increases in inflation from tariffs because it would be a one-time increase in prices. He's also argued that the costs involved in renovating the Fed's headquarters represent one of several examples of how the Fed "has lost its way" and that the American people "need a reformer to fix" the institution and rebuild its credibility. "Frankly, it's about breaking some heads," he said on Fox Business last month, calling for "regime change." Back in April, Warsh gave a speech in Washington, D.C., in which he said that the Fed's "current wounds are largely self-inflicted" and called for a "strategic reset" to ease a loss of credibility and damage to the Fed's standing. Hassett, meanwhile, already has a close relationship with Trump, given that he advises the president on economic policy and also served in the first Trump administration. Read more: How jobs, inflation, and the Fed are all related Earlier in the year, Hassett said he was more focused on the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) than on any quick monetary policy changes at the Federal Reserve. While the Fed can influence short-term bond yields and long-term bond yields, longer-term bond yields are influenced by many factors outside the Fed, and it is the yield on the 10-year Treasury that influences mortgage rates. But lately, Hassett has been more blatant, saying there's no reason why the Fed shouldn't be cutting rates now, something the president has repeatedly hammered the central bank to do. The president will likely watch whoever he appoints to the open Fed governor position to see how they perform and whether they'd be a successor for Powell, whose term ends next May. Though Fed governors Chris Waller and Michelle Bowman are also jockeying for the position of Fed chair, in part by dissenting at last week's Fed policy meeting in favor of cutting rates by 25 basis points, rather than holding rates steady. The opportunity for the White House to fill Kugler's seat earlier than expected comes as Trump applies pressure on Powell and the Fed board to lower rates by as many as 3 percentage points. Whoever the president appoints, it is the Federal Open Market Committee, which is composed of 19 members, that makes the decision, not just the Fed chair, and the new chair will have to contend with the committee. Jennifer Schonberger is a veteran financial journalist covering markets, the economy, and investing. At Yahoo Finance she covers the Federal Reserve, Congress, the White House, the Treasury, the SEC, the economy, cryptocurrencies, and the intersection of Washington policy with finance. Follow her on X @Jenniferisms and on Instagram. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump has been a loud critic of government data for years. But now he's following through.
The shocking move Friday to fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner wasn't the first time we've seen Trump and those in his orbit express their unhappiness with economic data. But it clearly marked an escalation — both in the abrupt dismissal as well as Trump's repeated evidence-free statements that it was because the underlying numbers are "rigged." It's also part of an effort that has spanned Trump's second term to, at the very least, shape how the government's giant and influential stream of data is presented to markets and to the public. The project has long been a mix of both ideology and political expedience. And it is likely to inform the coming pick for a replacement for the now-fired Erika McEntarfer, which Trump says is coming this week, as well as future changes to how the BLS and other government agencies do their work. These past moves by Trump allies have often been to try and showcase less prominent statistics in an effort to make things look a little rosier and — proponents say — offer a more accurate view of the economy from the Republican perspective. But crucially, they add, it is not a direct challenge to the underlying raw data. Trump has clearly muddied all that. Over multiple days of statements, he repeatedly said that the reason he fired McEntarfer was that the numbers she oversaw were "a scam." It also hasn't cheered markets and others that he has been vague on the changes he wants to see going forward. This also comes after years of Trump dismissing economic data when it doesn't suit him. Way back in 2017, then-press secretary Sean Spicer even once responded to good jobs figures by saying they "may have been phony in the past, but it's very real now." But it has mostly been rhetoric in the past. And this recent move to actually fire the workers behind it has clearly worried economic observers that US government data is now on the road to being compromised. Asked on Yahoo Finance Monday if investors have reason to now be wary of government data, TPW Advisory founder Jay Pelosky answered: "100%." "This is just another example of the dismantling of American exceptionalism," he added, saying a premium placed on US markets could now be at jeopardy "because folks feel they can trust the information that comes out of the US government." A focus on 'native born' jobs and private sector GDP Both the employment and gross domestic product (GDP) numbers have long been in GOP sights. On the jobs front: Trump's team has been focused on Bureau of Labor Statistics data looking at the employment status of native-born populations ahead of the overall number that also included foreign-born workers. The statistics for "foreign-born" workers include many naturalized Americans as well as those in the country legally. Vice President JD Vance even touted that aspect of last week's release on Friday afternoon, just hours before Trump declared the entire data set fake. "I was told 6 months ago that Americans losing jobs and the foreign-born gaining jobs was an irreversible demographic fact," Vance wrote early Friday afternoon. "Turns out you just needed a new president and a new immigration policy." Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, added over the weekend on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the president's firing of McEntarfer was more akin to a need for a "fresh set of eyes" at the agency. A similar effort has been mounted in recent months around the data that measures America's economic output. Gross domestic product comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and that wing of the government is overseen by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has made the case that a more accurate measure of GDP would exclude government spending. In March, he told Fox News, "It goes like this ... if the government buys a tank, that's GDP. But paying 1,000 people to think about buying a tank is not GDP. That's wasted money." It is, once again, an effort perhaps not to change the raw data but offer a different way of slicing it. This is underlined by how the government already publishes a figure roughly along the lines of what Lutnick has at times suggested: a total of only private output called Value Added by Private Industries (VAPI). The focus on VAPI was most noticeable this spring when cuts from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were still being promised, and it was a move criticized at the time as simply an effort to sidestep economic pain there. In the months since — with Musk's departure and DOGE promises much less ambitious — the talk of revising GDP counting has faded as well. A more standard massaging of economic data Of course, some efforts by Trump's team also fall into the category of seeming to cherry-pick data to make their stewardship of the economy look better — and that of their political opponents seem worse. That long Washington tradition was seen last week when, on Wednesday, new GDP numbers offered a strong annual headline growth rate of 3% but with underlying economic growth much lower and closer to 1.2%. Trump and his team naturally focused on the higher figure. Then on Thursday, new inflation numbers saw investors focus on an inflation uptick and core prices, with the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge rising 2.8% on an annual basis. Trump and his team instead focused on a lower figure offered by the overall Personal Consumption Expenditures price index only for the second quarter, which rose just 2.1% on an annualized rate. Hassett on Sunday called that "the most important" number. By Friday, perhaps the dour jobs report was too much to be spun with the revisions to prior months' numbers revealing significantly fewer jobs and leading some, like economist Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics, to say that the release showed an economy "on the precipice of recession." Trump then simply declared the data fake and has followed that up with days of charges that the report "was RIGGED" against him. Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
