Tipsheet

Matt Gaetz Threatens Jack Smith With Criminal Contempt of Congress

Republicans have come out in full swing to support former President Trump after he pleaded not guilty Thursday in a D.C. courthouse following his third political persecution of the year. 

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla) vowed to derail Special Counsel Jack Smith's political with hunt against Trump, insisting that House Republicans "should immediately demand that Jack Smith present himself for a transcribed interview before the Judiciary Committee in the next 15 days."

The Florida Republican promised to hold the corrupt Biden prosecutor accountable if he failed to comply by sending a subpoena and holding him in criminal contempt of Congress.

"If he ignores the subpoena, we should hold him in criminal contempt of the Congress so that he is the first prosecutor in American history to prosecute a case while himself under criminal contempt," Gaetz said. 

He then called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to hold Smith responsible for unfairly attacking Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election, adding that Garland should be impeached if he sits back and does nothing. 

"This is all an effort to try to distract us from the very real crimes committed by Hunter and Joe Biden," Gaetz suggested. 

Other Republicans have spoken out against the witch hunt facing Trump. 

Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker said that if Trump is found guilty of the so-called "crimes" the Left is accusing him of, then Democrats also need to be put on trial and not be held to a double standard. 

"People think, 'Well if these sorts of things are worthy of indictment, why aren't they indicting Bernie Sanders for inciting violence against Steve Scalise and the other Republicans at the baseball practice or Chuck Schumer for the things he said about Supreme Court justices?'" Walker said. "And then people ended up in violation of federal law in front of their house."

Meanwhile, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz argued that former Attorney General Bill Barr is "dead wrong" in his opinion on the most recent Trump indictment. 

"I like Bill Barr. He's a good man, but I think he's just dead wrong about that," Dershowitz said. "Of course, this is a free speech case. Everything involves his exercise of free speech and not only First Amendment free speech but also the First Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Dershowitz claimed prosecutors would need to prove Trump knew and believed he lost the 2020 presidential election to succeed.