Elise Stefanik files ethics complaint against Jack Smith — claiming 'election interference'

30 April 2024

Although Donald Trump's trial in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.'s hush money/falsified business records case is in full swing, both of special counsel Jack Smith's criminal cases against the former president appear unlikely to go to trial before the November election.

Judge Aileen Cannon has repeatedly delayed Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents case, and the special counsel's election interference case is in limbo while the U.S. Supreme Court examines Trump's absolute immunity claims. Oral arguments were held on Thursday, April 25.

Meanwhile, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) has filed an ethics complaint against Smith, claiming that his prosecutions amount to "illegal election interference."

In a Tuesday, April 30 post on X, formerly Twitter, Stefanik shared a copy of a letter she had sent to Jeffrey Ragsdale of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility.

The former Trump critic turned Trump loyalist, who has described incarcerated January 6, 2021 rioters as "hostages," told Ragsdale, "I write today to request an ethics investigation of Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for abusing the resources of the federal government to unlawfully interfere with the 2024 presidential election. Jack Smith's multiple attempts to rush to trial the federal January 6th case against President Trump violated long-standing, explicit Justice Department policy."

Stefanik's announcement has received many responses on X.

Luke Zaleski, legal affairs editor at Condé Nast, tweeted, "We're going to be gaslit into a dictatorship. It's time to recalibrate the presumption that the Republican Party hasn't been seriously compromised. They've been working exclusively for Trump and in ways that are counter to US interests and their own that just can't be explained."

Public relations/media veteran John L. Goodman, formerly of ABC News, wrote, "When wanting to be Trump's Vice President is more important than your self esteem and integrity... Rep. Elise Stefanik demands DOJ ethics probe into Jack Smith, accuses him of election interference."

Stefanik is reportedly on Trump's short list of possible running mates, along with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was also reportedly a top contender, but she has been drawing vehement criticism after describing, in her new book, an incident in which she shot and killed a puppy on a farm.

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