Trump chasing 'sugar high' as DOJ cases 'crash and burn': ex-federal prosecutor

Former U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith walks, on the day of a closed-door deposition as part of a House Judiciary Committee inquiry in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 17, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon

Former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Ellie Honig thinks President Donald Trump is looking for another "fix" in his desperation to indict his foes.

The latest round of attacks from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) includes a referral letter to the Justice Department to indict former special counsel Jack Smith. Honig calls it an outright "sleight of hand."

"Sure, congressional Republicans have worked themselves into a retributive frenzy — We’ve got him now! — while Donald Trump shakes pom-poms behind them. 'Justice at last???' the president mused on Truth Social, expectantly," mocked Honig in a piece for New York Magazine.

The allegation is that Smith lied under oath during a taped congressional discussion about his probes into Trump. Republicans have spent the past year arguing that Smith "spied" on them by obtaining their phone records. The reality is that what Smith subpoenaed is more like a phone log of who Trump called, who called him, at what time and how long the calls lasted. They're known as toll records.

In a separate subpoena, Smith obtained text messages sent to and from Trump's phone while he was in office. All of those were backed up and handed over to the National Archives as part of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) when Trump left office. Smith subpoenaed the National Archives for those records.

When questioning Smith about the first subpoena, the committee asked whether he had requested text messages in those toll records. Smith said, "no," as there are no text messages in toll records. The committee was specific when it asked about texts in the first subpoena, saying "the toll records" in the questions.

It's why Honig thinks "Jordan doesn’t quite buy into his own carnival barkery on this one" and called it "bulls——."

Looking at the larger picture of the ongoing political prosecutions of Trump's perceived foes, Honig said that like many of the DOJ's cases for Trump, the Smith one will fail too. The first step for the indictment would be that the DOJ must take it to a grand jury. Honig doubts it'll make it through there. But if it does, Smith will likely file a motion to dismiss based on vindictive prosecution.

"In October 2025, Trump claimed that Smith and others 'should be prosecuted for their illegal and highly unethical behavior!'" recalled Honig. "He reiterated his request in January 2026, citing Smith’s 'large-scale perjury.' And Trump openly celebrated just moments after news broke of Jordan’s referral of Smith to the DOJ."

Honig explained that it appears neither Trump nor the DOJ fully understands or care that he's losing all of these cases. "As long as they get the sugar high of the investigation and (sometimes) the indictment, they don’t seem at all bothered when these cases inevitably crash and burn," said Honig.

Trump wanted a "perp walk" in the James Comey indictment, CBS News reported in October.

"The source told CBS News that leadership asked for 'large, beefy' agents to conduct an arrest of Comey 'in full kit,' including Kevlar vests and exterior wear emblazoned with the FBI logo. It was suggested that a supervisory special agent in the violent crimes division of the FBI's Washington Field Office would be able to put together the kinds of agents who fit the bill," the source told CBS.

The FBI supervisor who refused to do such a "perp walk" was then fired, Reuters reported.

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