Releasing Jack Smith’s special counsel Report was an exercise is pure politics – with a dash of personal venom. The only conceivable reason to write and release the Report was to attempt to tarnish Trump’s reputation in the court of public opinion. It serves no purpose in terms of pursuing justice. The Report is not the work product of an unbiased investigation. It is nothing more than a one-sided prosecutor’s brief that will never be tested in a court of law.
Whatever one thinks of Trump, every American should be concerned when the Department of Justice is being used by political partisans to go after political enemies.
(Why does that accusation sound familiar? Oh yeah. That is what Democrats are saying Trump is GOING to do. All the while, they have been actually doing it themselves. Hypocrisy on steroids.)
There has been a general policy with prosecutors that they do not reveal negative information about people they do not indict and bring to trial. It serves no good purpose. Smith terminated the investigation against Trump. The reason is less important than the fact. Trump will never face a jury on the charges alleged by Smith.
Smith went so far as to say that Trump would have been convicted based on what he called “the evidence.” That is what all prosecutors say. Smith is in no position – and had no intention — to evaluate and present ALL the evidence and ALL the legal arguments on both sides. He is simply offering a prosecution brief. The so-called Report has no defense arguments. Putting it out in the court of public opinion for political revenge makes the Report nothing more than partisan propaganda.
The Trump haters will love it. Democrats and left-wing media will endorse it as if it is a legitimate verdict. They will see it as proof. That is because they are less interested in justice and truth than they are in sticking it to Trump.
Smith emphasizes that his Report does not exonerate Trump. Technically, that may be true since you do not investigate to build a case to exonerate. Duh! More importantly, it does not make Trump guilty of anything alleged in the Report. In making that claim, the special counsel violates the basic tenets of American jurisprudence – that a person is to be presumed innocent until proven guilty IN A COURT OF LAW.
Releasing the Report is nothing more than a feeble mean-spirited effort to damage Trump’s reputation for no good purpose. It is likely to have the opposite effect, however. It gives credence to Trump’s argument that he is being persecuted — subjected to politically motivated lawfare. As with past attempts, it will likely enhance his popularity — and diminish the reputation of those continuing their Trump hatred resistance movement.
For all practical purposes, it will have no impact on Trump. It offers nothing new – nothing that the people have not heard repeatedly over the past four years. It will not stop Trump from assuming the presidency — and all the powers that go with it. It will not make him change his plans and policies. In a few months, the Report will slip out of the conscious memory of the American people.
I see the drafting … the release … and the interpretation of the Report by Smith as a venal act of a bitter prosecutor who bet his reputation on taking down Trump. And now it is Smith who winds up being the big loser. Tens of millions of taxpayer money … millions of hours of labor. For what? A meaningless Report?
So, there ‘tis.