Former special counsel Jack Smith warned of an attack on the rule of law during his first public interview since resigning. Smith told Nicolle Wallace on MS NOW's "Deadline: White House" on Thursday that "I think we are facing an attack on the rule of law that is different in kind and scope to anything I've seen in my lifetime." He gave the interview 10 days before Donald Trump was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2025.

Smith stated that a potential indictment of him by the Department of Justice "could happen" given Donald Trump's animus toward him for prosecuting the president in two separate criminal cases before Trump returned to the White House. Smith told Wallace that "it angers me" to see public servants "demonized for doing their jobs" by the Trump administration for their work on cases seen as hostile to the president and his allies. A week after Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Department of Justice fired four career prosecutors and others who worked with Smith on the prosecutions of Trump.

Smith referred to "retribution prosecutions," which have included indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James by the Department of Justice. Smith stated, "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 noted that young people he has spoken with are less interested in working for the Department of Justice. Smith concluded, "I tell people, when I go to these universities and to law schools, don't give up on it."

Why It Matters

Jack Smith's statements address the conditions surrounding former President Donald Trump's return to the White House. The Department of Justice dismissed the election interference case, and the classified documents case was dismissed by a Trump-appointed judge. These actions followed Smith's appointment as special counsel in November 2022 to investigate criminal matters related to Donald Trump, who announced his intention to seek a second term days before.