NEW: Jack Smith: "The Department of Justice Was My Home...That Home is Now On Fire."

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith delivered remarks at George Mason University this week, warning of the weaponization of the Justice Department under the Trump administration.

Jack Smith was appointed by Merrick Garland in November of 2022 to continue the ongoing investigations into the January 6th attack on the Capitol and the unlawful retention of national defense information and subsequent obstruction of justice by Donald Trump.

In 2023, Jack Smith indicted the then-former president by following the facts and the rule of law. This week, he spoke at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University with a dire warning about the assault on the rule of law at the Justice Department. My co-host on the UnJustified podcast, Former Deputy Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, was in the audience and described to me what he heard.

Smith spoke about the rule of law being under attack in a way that he hasn’t seen in his lifetime, and that he’s saddened by the firing of selfless public servants, the government using its vast powers to target citizens for exercising their constitutional rights, and the loss of credibility with the courts and the people.

If you listen to the UnJustified podcast, you’ll recall that Andy and I have been talking about the destruction of the presumption of regularity and the loss of the court’s faith in the Justice Department at great length. Jack Smith shared those sentiments in his speech.

“The DOJ was my home for many, many years. That home is now on fire,” he said.

He spoke at length about what a society absent the rule of law looks like. It’s a society where critics and perceived enemies are targeted in an effort to silence them. One where prosecutors are left to figure out the basis for a case after the fact. And one where friends and allies of the administration face no legal consequences.

“In a society where the rule of law is eroding, you can have a situation where if you’re a Latino citizen… you can be stopped, detained, your liberty taken because of the color of your skin. Or maybe because you were speaking Spanish… whereas we all know that if you were white, that would never happen.”

Smith talked about how it’s vital that career prosecutors follow the facts and the law despite both criticism and praise. “You do the right thing. You do it the right way. And you do it for the right reasons.” He points out that while media pundits and online social media trolls are “noise” that a good prosecutor knows how to tune out, people who demand a specific outcome are also to be ignored. A conscientious prosecutor does what is right by following the facts and the law regardless of external pressure.

But, he says, the current leadership at the Department of Justice has abandoned these principles in favor of reaching desired outcomes dictated by the president. Rather than relying on the process, they ignore norms and values by focusing on those outcomes no matter the cost to the credibility of the institution, and no matter whether the outcomes are legal or just.

Jack Smith gave some recent examples, including the dismissal of the bribery charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, the targeting of law firms, refusal to open an investigation into the Pentagon Signal chats, and ignoring clear court orders to deport people from the United States.

He spoke about something else Andy and I have been covering in great detail in recent weeks; the lack of trust in the Department of Justice resulting in federal grand juries refusing to return indictments because the people simply do not trust the government anymore. Quoting a judge in a recent case, Smith said “Trust that has been won and earned over generations has been lost in weeks.”

He concluded by warning against cynicism. Disillusioned people don’t lead interesting lives. They don’t get things done. And they don’t make the world a better place. He encouraged everyone to speak up, tell the truth, and embrace the opportunity to stand up for what you believe in. “Stand up to powerful people, and stand up for vulnerable people. Wherever and whenever you can.

“As Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. But that arc doesn’t bend on its own. We need to make that happen.”

Andrew McCabe and I will discuss this in more detail on tomorrow’s episode of the UnJustified podcast. You can subscribe here for free, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jack Smith on the Harris Theatre stage: ‘What I see happening at the Department of Justice today saddens me and angers me.’ Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding