The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump If he wins the US presidential election in less than two weeks Dismissal of special investigator confirmedThe allegations against him are being investigated.
In an interview, the former president asked conservative podcaster Hugh Hewitt whether he would pardon him or fire special counsel Jack Smith. “It’s very simple,” Trump replied. “I’ll fire him in two seconds.”
In the interview, Trump slammed the special counsel, who reports to the independent U.S. Department of Justice, calling him a “very dishonest man.” The campaign team of his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, accused Trump of thinking he was “above the law.”
Trump couldn’t fire Smith
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. The case includes, on the one hand, allegations of attempted election fraud in 2020 and the handling of classified documents that Trump took with him after his term ended.
Smith amended the charge of attempted election fraud over the summer after the Supreme Court granted broad immunity to US presidents for official acts. Actions on the documents were dismissed by a judge in Florida — and Smith appealed.
A US president does not have the power to fire a special counsel, but if Trump is re-elected, he could appoint a new attorney general. A Trump-appointed attorney general could also dismiss federal cases against him.
Trump’s comments “are consistent with warnings from Trump’s former chief of staff that he wants to rule like a dictator with unfettered power,” said Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the Harris campaign. “A volatile and unbalanced Trump (…) surrounded by loyalists who support his worst instincts is guaranteed to make a second Trump term even more dangerous.” (dpa, AFP)
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