A former acting attorney general said Friday that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s superseding indictment was intended “to punish” former President Donald Trump.
Smith revealed the new charges in a superseding indictment issued Thursday that included charges against Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate owned by former President Trump.
Smith initially secured a 37-count indictment against Trump in June based on an investigation into allegation surrounding classified documents.
Trump announced that on July 18, he received a letter from the Justice Department telling him he was a target of the probe into the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol building being conducted by Smith.
In the news: Republicans Slam New Charges Against Trump In Classified Docs Case
“I think this last round of charges to supersede this indictment was to try to punish Donald Trump,” Matt Whitaker told Fox News host Gillian Turner. “You know, he had made an issue and people that support him made an issue that the prosecutor department didn’t have this Iran battle plan document, and that made the special prosecutor look bad.”
“It looks like Jack Smith said’ you want to play that game, you want to call me out, highlight what I’m doing wrong in this case, I will supersede your indictment,’” Whitaker continued. “It seems, to me, a little vindictive and petty.”
Republicans condemned the new charges Thursday, pointing to a plea deal offered to Hunter Biden and the dropping of campaign finance charges against former FTX executive Sam Bankman-Fried. Biden pleaded not guilty to all charges after the plea bargain collapsed when Noreika rejected both the initial plea deal and a more limited revision Wednesday.
In the news: Hunter Biden Still In Line For A ‘Sweetheart’ Plea Deal Even Without Broad Immunity
Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis announced in April that a probe into his efforts to contest that state’s results in the 2020 presidential election could lead to the indictment of Trump. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg secured a grand jury indictment against Trump in March in a case centered around an alleged $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
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