Former President Donald Trump laid out Thursday what could be his first order of business if re-elected: firing the special counsel who indicted him in two federal cases.
And his comments against Jack Smith were met with immediate pushback from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, echoing their claims that the former president is acting as if he’s above the law.
However, the logistics of Smith’s future and his investigations in a potential Trump second term are not as clear cut.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and U.S. special counsel Jack Smith.
AP/Getty Images
Trump called into the “Hugh Hewitt Show” on Thursday and was asked if he would fire Smith if re-elected.
“We got immunity at the Supreme Court. It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” Trump said.
Trump added that he was going to sue Smith.
Almost immediately after the show was broadcast, Harris’ campaign condemned Trump’s comments.
Campaign spokeswoman Ammar Moussa said in a statement that Trump’s comments were in line with the warnings by former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly, who warned that Trump was acting like a fascist.
“A second Trump term, where a more unstable and unhinged Trump has essentially no guardrails and is surrounded by loyalists who will enable his worst instincts, is guaranteed to be more dangerous. America can’t risk a second Trump term,” Moussa said.
While Trump would have the authority to direct his attorney general to fire the special counsel if reelected, it’s not clear if he would have to issue any order to have the Justice Department dismiss its prosecutions against him. Any ongoing federal cases against Trump would likely halt once he assumes office, according to longstanding department policy.
That policy and internal Office of Legal Counsel opinions state that a sitting president cannot face indictment or be criminally prosecuted as it “would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”
This artist sketch depicts former President Donald Trump, right, conferring with defense lawyer Todd Blanche, center, during his appearance at the Federal Courthouse, Aug. 3, 2023, in Washington. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith sits at left.
Dana Verkouteren/AP, FILE
Trump’s attack on Smith was the latest against the special counsel and the Justice Department in their nearly two-year-long investigation into his alleged criminal activity.
Smith was appointed to his position by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as Trump’s alleged unlawful possession of highly classified documents he took from his time in the White House. He previously served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague charged with investigating war crimes in Kosovo.
Smith subpoenaed several of Trump’s allies and family members to testify before a grand jury, including Ivanka Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.
On June 8, 2023, Smith indicted Trump on charges he unlawfully retained classified documents and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal court in Florida.
On Aug. 1, 2023, Trump was indicted on four felony counts related to his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election. Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C.
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign rally at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in Atlanta.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Both cases were mired in delays as Trump appealed various aspects of the prosecutions, including an immunity challenge brought by Trump in his federal election subversion case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court.
In July, the court’s conservative majority ruled that Trump was entitled to some immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and sent the case back to the trial court to sort out which acts fell clearly outside the scope of his official duties as president.
Two weeks after the Supreme Court decision, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed the classified documents case, ruling Smith’s appointment as Special Counsel was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.
Smith is appealing that decision and separately filed a superseding indictment against Trump in his D.C. federal case, presenting detailed arguments in a filing earlier this month about why Trump’s actions advanced his personal interests and were not within his official duties.
In this Aug. 1, 2023 file photo, Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Washington.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images, FILE
Trump also awaits sentencing for his May conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York and a possible criminal trial in Fulton County, Georgia, over his attempts to overthrow the 2020 election.
ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soo Rin Kim, Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
