‘Clearly correct’ Jack Smith goes after Trump claim that he’s pulling a James Comey and violating DOJ’s own rules to impact 2024 election

Jack Smith, James Comey, Donald Trump

Jack Smith (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite), James Comey (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File), Donald Trump (Photo by Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto via AP)

In court for a scheduling conference Friday, special counsel Jack Smith responded to arguments by Donald Trump’s defense that the Department of Justice’s Mar-a-Lago prosecution is improper by virtue of being too close to the 2024 election, in violation of DOJ’s own rules.

The special counsel told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that Justice Manual § 9-85.500 — the DOJ’s internal policy and procedure on protecting government integrity by avoiding “Actions that May Have an Impact on an Election” — does not apply to Trump since he was indicted back in June 2023, well outside of the timeline of the so-called “60-day rule.”

In a Thursday defense filing with a proposed schedule, Trump attorneys argued that the Mar-a-Lago case should be delayed until after the election, as the July 8 trial date proposed by Smith would “violate Justice Manual § 9-85.500.” Notably, the filing referenced the DOJ inspector general’s report on former FBI Director James Comey’s well-documented “mistakes” in — and mishandling of — the Hillary Clinton private email server probe, whether months before the 2016 election or two days before Clinton lost.

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