Jack Smith says DOJ ‘can’t do its job’ because of judges’ distrust of prosecutors

Administration Jack Smith says DOJ ‘can’t do its job’ because of judges’ distrust of prosecutors Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/02/26 10:15 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/02/26 10:15 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Former special counsel Jack Smith warned that the U.S. is facing an “attack on the rule of law” under President Trump, saying he is “very concerned” about the integrity of future elections and accusing the administration of weaponizing the Justice Department.

Smith, the special counsel who brought charges against Trump following his first term, argued that the department has fundamentally weakened under Trump.

“Regardless of what you think politically, they’re just not effective at doing their job anymore,” he said in an interview on MS NOW’s “Deadline: White House” — his first interview since resigning 10 days before Trump’s second inauguration.

He acknowledged it “could happen” that he’d be indicted by the DOJ for angering Trump by prosecuting him, as others like former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have seemingly been targeted as Trump’s perceived political enemies.

Smith said it “angers” him to see public servants who work on cases that aren’t favorable to Trump or his allies “demonized for doing their jobs” by the Trump administration.

A week into Trump’s second term, the DOJ fired prosecutors and other colleagues of Smith’s who prosecuted Trump.

“I think it’s really important that we stand up for them and let them know that there are a lot of people out there who back them and who are with them, and that’s not just the people who have been who’ve been targeted and fired for no reason for doing their jobs,” he said.

Smith was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to oversee the investigations into Trump. He later secured indictments including accusations that Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which sparked an attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump, who has denied the accusations, has since falsely claimed the election was rigged, leading to widespread attempts to overhaul elections for suspected ballot fraud.

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