2024 US presidential election: ‘I would fire special counsel Jack Smith in two seconds,’ says Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Thursday he would quickly fire Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing two federal cases against him, if he wins the November election.

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As reported AFPTrump, who is currently facing sentencing on separate charges related to the hush money payments, is accused by Smith of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump’s remarks targeting the special counsel prompted the campaign of his White House rival Kamala Harris to accuse the former president of believing he is “above the law.”

Trump’s lawyers, meanwhile, filed a motion to dismiss the election tampering case, arguing that Jack Smith was illegally appointed — an argument they’ve previously succeeded in another case against Trump. He was charged in Florida with mishandling classified documents after he left the White House, but that case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump.

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The legitimacy of special counsels has been upheld in many previous cases, and Smith appealed Cannon’s unusual ruling. During an interview Thursday with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt, Trump described Cannon as a “brave and brilliant judge.”

When Hewitt asked whether Trump would pardon or fire Smith on his first day back in the White House, Trump indicated that he would take action against his perceived political enemies if re-elected.

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“It’s so easy. I would fire him in two seconds,” Trump said.

Smith was appointed special counsel by Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland.

A US president does not have the authority to fire a special counsel, but if re-elected, Trump could appoint a new attorney general who could do so.

A Trump-appointed attorney general could also have any federal cases against him thrown out.

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Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the Harris campaign, said Trump’s comments “are consistent with warnings from Trump’s former chief of staff (John Kelly) that he wants to rule as a dictator with unchecked power.”

“A second Trump term, in which a more unstable and deranged Trump essentially has no railings and is surrounded by loyalists who will indulge his worst instincts, is guaranteed to be more dangerous,” Moussa added .

Trump, 78, was scheduled to stand trial on election-subversion charges in March, but the case was frozen as his lawyers argued that a former president should be immune from prosecution.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled that a former president enjoys broad immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but can still be prosecuted for unofficial actions, AFP reported.

Trump faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — specifically the session of Congress that was attacked by his supporters on January 6, 2021, while certifying Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

Additionally, he is accused of trying to sway American voters by falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. In May, Trump was convicted in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

He also faces racketeering charges in Georgia related to efforts to overturn election results.