Leading Republican senators are telling Justice Department officials to ensure all records related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President-elect Trump are preserved before the new administration takes office.
“(C) the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation into former President Trump by Special Counsel Smith in light of the Department’s past destruction of federal records related to political bias affecting Congressional oversight and decision-making processes; ,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wrote to Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and FBI Director Christopher. In a letter he wrote: Ray.
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa, left) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) directed the Justice Department to preserve records in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case. (Reuters)
“We cannot repeat the inappropriate conduct of the past in this matter. Therefore, all records must be preserved to allow Congress to conduct an objective and independent review.”
Before his indictment, Mr. Smith was leading a federal investigation into Mr. Trump’s possession of classified documents and federal election interference.
After Mr. Trump decisively won last week’s presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr. Smith filed a motion to override all deadlines for 2020 election interference lawsuits against Mr. Trump, a widely anticipated move. It had been.
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The lawsuit has not yet been officially dismissed, but Smith claimed the team plans to provide a formal status update on December 2nd.
Mr. Smith also filed a motion with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to halt an earlier appeal of the confidential documents case after it was dismissed by Federal Judge Eileen Cannon.
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President-elect Trump was the subject of two indictments by Smith. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In their letter, Grassley and Johnson said Justice Department records released in 2020 showed that the cellphones of multiple individuals on then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative team were used at various times during the investigation into President Trump. He pointed out that it has become clear that it was “erased” for a number of reasons.
Records from the time show that information on devices was wiped before an investigation was conducted for reasons such as forgotten passcodes, irreparable screen damage, lost devices, or intentional deletions.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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“Furthermore, with Senator Grassley’s oversight, the FBI agreed to destroy records not turned over to the investigative team during the FBI’s investigation into Secretary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information and related to Secretary Clinton’s staff. “It was revealed that he had agreed to destroy his laptop,” Grassley and Johnson wrote.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Justice Department spokesperson said, “The Department has followed the law, including its legal obligations regarding the preservation of special counsel records, and will continue to do so.”
