Jack Smith testifies (again)

In his first public testimony, former special counsel Jack Smith warned that President Donald Trump’s targeted attacks against civil servants in the Department of Justice pose a grave threat to the rule of law.

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Thursday’s hearing represented a reversal for the House Judiciary Committee’s Republican Chairman Jim Jordan (Ohio).

Previously, Jordan had denied Smith’s request to speak publicly about the Trump investigations and instead ordered a closed-door hearing, which took place in December.

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“The rule of law is not self-executing,” Smith said. “It depends on our collective commitment to apply it.”

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Trump is threatening the primacy of law in the United States by attacking civil servants previously assigned to probes against him.

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Smith issued the warning while testifying on the two criminal investigations he led into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the president’s mishandling of classified documents after his first term.

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Smith defended his team’s work and said the Trump administration’s retaliatory actions constituted an assault on independent law enforcement.

“President Trump has sought to seek revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents and support staff for having worked on these cases,” Smith said. “To vilify and seek retribution against these people is wrong. Those dedicated public servants are the best of us.”

  Democracy Docket

Also, and this is obviously not a deterrent, it's illegal.

In August, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), an agency that oversees the conduct of federal employees, publicly confirmed it was investigating Smith over allegations he engaged in unlawful political activity by bringing criminal charges against Trump.

The probe, the status of which is unclear, was highly unusual for the OSC, which is meant to operate in a non-partisan manner independent of the White House. However, several months earlier, Trump fired the previous OSC leader and installed loyalists to lead the office.

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Thursday’s hearing marks the first time Smith has testified publicly about the two investigations into Trump.

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During the hearing, Trump called Smith “a deranged animal” in a post on social media and said that he hoped that Attorney General Pam Bondi was “looking at what he’s done.”

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Since his return to the White House, Trump has repeatedly and publicly attacked Smith and has called for his arrest.

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Asked about Trump’s personal attacks, Smith said he believed they were meant to intimidate him and others who “stand up.”

“I’m not going to be intimidated,” he said. “We did our work pursuant to department policy. We followed the facts. We followed the law. And that process resulted in proof beyond a reasonable doubt that [Trump] committed serious crimes. And I’m not going to pretend that didn’t happen because he’s threatening me.”

 UPDATE 02:22 pm:

Apparently, it wasn't just Nehls...

Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone repeatedly told far-right operative Ivan Raiklin "go f*ck yourself" at the hearing, where the two were both in attendance as audience members.

"You're a traitor to this f*cking country," Fanone also told Raiklin, getting close enough that two of his former law enforcement colleagues had to restrain him.

The altercation occurred during a recess in the Judiciary Committee's hearing, with Raiklin starting off the interaction by trying to shake Fanone's hand.

Fanone repeatedly cursed at Raiklin and told him not to "pretend" that they are on good terms, Raiklin responded, "Why do you have to lose your cool like that?"

"This guy has threatened my family, threatened my children. Threatened to rape my children ... you sick bastard," Fanone told Raiklin as people gathered around the two men.

"F*cking do something," Fanone dared Raiklin. "Do something."

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The ex-MPD officer said [that during the insurection on January 6, 2021,] he was "grabbed, beaten, tased, all while being called a traitor to my country."

Raiklin, for his part, was a key figure in pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to overturn the 2020 election results and has continued to propagate conspiracy theories about the election.

Fanone's fellow Capitol Police veterans, Jared Dunn and Aquilino Gonell, quickly rushed to hold Fanone back and de-escalate the situation, with Dunn telling Fanone repeatedly, "Let's take a seat."

Judiciary chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) then banged his gavel and called the hearing to order, with ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) thanking Fanone and Democrats applauding the former officer.

  Axios