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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSome Republicans try once again to defund Jack Smith prosecutions
Last summer, Republicans pushed to defund special counsel Jack Smith's office. As Donald Trump's legal crisis intensifies, the idea has made a comeback.
Link to tweet
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republicans-try-defund-jack-smith-prosecutions-rcna151208
... Greenes top priority, she said, was a promise to defund the office of special counsel John L. Jack Smith, who is pursuing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump on charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election and retaining classified documents.
This dovetails with related legislation from Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida that would have the effect of stripping funding from the prosecutors office.
Johnson, not surprisingly, hasnt committed to defunding anything, though the Louisiana Republican appeared at a Capitol Hill press conference yesterday, dismissed the overwhelming evidence prosecutors have assembled against Trump, and insisted that Congress would address the former presidents prosecutions in every possible way.
Link to tweet
.....Simply as a matter of procedure, such a move would need to pass the Democratic-led Senate and be signed into law by President Joe Biden, and its probably safe to say that theyd have some concerns about defunding Smiths office.
Whats more, its an open question as to whether such a measure could even pass the House: The GOPs majority is tiny, and some Republican incumbents from competitive districts would likely be reluctant to link arms with their radical colleagues on such a gambit, especially knowing it would be ignored in the Senate.
But lets not lose sight of the fact that for some Republicans, this is a serious idea worthy of their time and consideration. Confronted with compelling evidence of alleged felonies, these GOP members believe the proper response is to not only intervene in ongoing criminal cases, but also to use the levers of power to defund prosecutors.
We continue to learn quite a bit about the contemporary Republican Partys approach to the rule of law, and none of its good.
BoRaGard
(260 posts)I reckon honest Americans will raise several trillion dollars to support Jack's investigation, and to keep America free from the Satanically-driven Republican Christofascist Sin-and-Crime Syndicate.
Description of those evil assholes. And their Gawd.
Grins
(7,287 posts)a perfect example of weaponizing government? That Gym Jordan and the rest of the GOP lose shit over?
doc03
(35,485 posts)a difference anyway. Thanks to AG Garland and Cannon.
CANADIANBEAVER69
(366 posts)How the hell does holding someone accountable, regardless of who, a threat to the ENTIRE system? This unholy man is such a little man. I really don't like to hear him speak, it grates on me and I end up rolling my eyes more than he did during The State of the Union address.
LetMyPeopleVote
(146,177 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(12,578 posts)Well, then, it's definitely doomed to failure.
The MAGAt gang that can't shoot straight.
spanone
(136,001 posts)Takket
(21,745 posts)Is literally why we have a criminal justice system. That is the method of dealing with improper prosecution. The judge can dismiss the case if its is bullshit or the jury can find you not guilty. Congress needs to respect its own place.
republianmushroom
(13,966 posts)will run out before there is any trials. Remember Mueller special counsel investigation, an investigation into 45th U.S. president Donald Trump regarding Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections...?
39 months and counting (with lots of foot dragging)
LetMyPeopleVote
(146,177 posts)His appearance at Donald Trumps criminal trial was tough to defend, but his vow to rein in prosecutors made the problem worse.
Link to tweet
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/speaker-mike-johnsons-trip-trumps-trial-ny-mattered-rcna152326
It was a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker amplifying Trumps defense and turning the Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy. Johnson, who is second in line for the presidency, called the court system corrupt.
The display was, by any fair measure, obscene. The sitting speaker of the House Congress top official and a man two heartbeats from the presidency decided that it would be fully appropriate to show up at a criminal trial and allow himself to be used as a mouthpiece for a suspected felon......
But perhaps most notable of all was the House speakers comments about his plans for the near future because as it turns out, Johnson intends to use his courthouse appearance as a springboard toward future action. The conservative Washington Times reported:
House Speaker Mike Johnson ... told reporters that all the cases brought against Mr. Trump amount to election interference and Congress has a constitutional responsibility to investigate the prosecutors and hold them accountable.
In fact, Johnson accused special counsel Jack Smith of undefined abuses, adding that hes prepared to take measure to rein in
prosecutors that Republicans disagree with.
Link to tweet
.....But even the possibility that Johnson intends to interfere in ongoing criminal cases, going after prosecutors for their doing their jobs and following the evidence, is a case study in indefensible Republican radicalism.