What’s the point of continuing?
“Oh, it’s so easy. It’s so easy,” Trump said when asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would “pardon yourself” or “fire Jack Smith” if reelected.
“I would fire him within two seconds,” Trump said.
The discussions between Smith and DOJ leadership are expected to last several days.
Justice Department officials are looking at options for how to wind down the two criminal cases while also complying with a 2020 memo from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel about indictments or prosecutions of sitting presidents.
They’re not mentioning a fairly obvious detail. According to governing regulations, when a Special Counsel finishes his work, he must write a report to the Attorney General.
Closing documentation. At the conclusion of the Special Counsel’s work, he or she shall provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.
So if Smith is totally done, he has to write a report.
These reports that Smith is engaged in these discussions come as Bill Barr and others are yapping their mouths about Smith simply dismissing the cases. By telling the press that Smith is already working on shutting down the cases, Smith pre-empts any effort from Trump to offer another solution — and does so before Trump files his response to the immunity brief on November 21.
In other words, this may be no more than an effort to get one more bite at the apple, to describe what Smith found, which would be particularly important if there are still undisclosed aspects of the case, as I suggested there might be.
Where things get interesting, though, is Trump’s co-conspirators, people like Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon. Those guys could be prosecuted, as Roger Stone was after Mueller finished up. Trump would order his Attorney General to dismiss the cases — they’re never going to be prosecuted. But it would impose a political cost right at the beginning of his administration.
I have a sneaking suspicion that report will never see the light of day. We’ve just heard tapes of notorious trafficker of underage girls, Jeffrey Epstein, telling Michael Wolffe that he and Trump were best friends for 10 years and the media yawned. I don’t think anyone will care about a report on Trump’s crimes at this point even if they tried to prosecute Giuliani and Stone and Trump pardoned them the first day.
Put a fork in it. Trump skated again. It’s one of the things his cult worships him for — nobody can ever take him down. Teflon Don. I think the only thing that will get him is the grim reaper and that’s probably when he’s 96 years old asleep in his bed. There is no justice …