Below is my column on Fox.com on the new disclosures of secret orders targeting now FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. It is only the latest example of the abuse of the investigatory powers by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Here is the column:
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has long operated under Oscar Wilde’s rule that “the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.” Over the last few months, the public has learned of a wide array of secret orders targeting members of Congress, Trump allies, and others. Now, the Administration has learned that FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Susie Wiles were also targeted by Smith in 2022 and 2023 when they were private citizens.
Smith was a controversial choice as Special Counsel because of his history of excessive legal arguments and tactics, including his unanimous loss before the Supreme Court in tossing out the conviction of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell.
His tendency to stretch the law to the breaking point also did not play well with juries in high-profile cases, as in his case against John Edwards, which ended in acquittal.
Despite such criticisms, Smith immediately returned to his past pattern of tossing aside any restraint or caution. Even Democrats this year expressed objections to his targeting of Republican members of Congress, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Smith told carriers not to tell members of Congress that their calls were being seized. Not only did such records reveal potentially confidential sources, ranging from journalists to whistleblowers, but Smith’s gag order prevented Congress from responding to check the abusive demand.
Now, the Administration is alleging that Smith and the prior Administration effectively buried the targeting of Patel and Wiles. It took a year into the new Administration for these orders to be uncovered.
The early accounts of the orders contained equally disturbed elements. Reuters reported that “in 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, according to two FBI officials. Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded, and consented to it, but Susie Wiles was not.”
It is astonishing to hear of a lawyer agreeing to the FBI recording of an attorney-client meeting as a general matter. However, to do so without informing your counsel would be a breathtaking invasion of such protected communications.
There is much we still do not know.
On its face, these orders appear consistent with the earlier abusive demands. Smith had virtually no basis for targeting Republican members and Trump allies. It was a fishing expedition in which Smith simply compiled lists of every well-known ally of President Trump.
There are also concerns over the response to this controversy. There are reports of 10 FBI employees being fired. Agents often carry out the orders of superiors in such investigations. The Administration should assure the public that these agents were afforded due process before being ousted due to their work on orders.
The recently disclosed files from these investigations are an indictment of Smith himself. He was given a historic mandate to investigate a former president. Rather than exercise a modicum of restraint to show the public that this was not a partisan effort, Smith yielded to his worst temptations in targeting a long list of Republicans.
In his prior testimony, Smith offered little to justify these orders beyond a shrug that such secret orders routinely occur. However, he was targeting a “who’s who” listing of top political opponents to President Biden and the Democrats.
To make matters worse, Smith struggled to release damaging information (and even schedule a trial) on the very eve of the 2024 presidential election. Every action that Smith took only magnified his agenda to influence the election. He became a prosecutor consumed by his antagonism toward Trump and his unchecked power.
Nothing was sacred for Smith. His demands in the investigation from the courts included a wholesale attack on free speech values.
Ultimately, these files are not only an indictment of Jack Smith but also of former Attorney General Merrick Garland, who failed to exercise his authority to oversee Smith and protect core constitutional values.
It is essential that Congress and the Administration fully investigate Smith’s surveillance demands. Smith has long demanded accountability for others while evading such accountability for his own actions.
If past orders are any indication, the Patel and Wiles orders were likely based on sweeping generalities and demands for absolute secrecy. That is the signature of Jack Smith. Indeed, Smith appears to have replicated his increasingly infamous record with the collapse of two high-profile cases and lingering questions over his judgment and actions.
He has again yielded to his temptations, and the public has paid the price.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the author of the New York Times bestselling “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Off Topic:
MAGA Billionaires Win Battle to Buy CNN and Turn It Trumpy
“… Once the deal goes through, CNN is widely expected to come under the control of Bari Weiss, the MAGA-curious Substacker who now runs CBS News. That network is already reeling from her turbulent leadership, with Anderson Cooper quitting 60 Minutes to focus solely on his CNN role—meaning that he will be reunited with her in the near future. …”
By: Vic Verbalaitis – The Daily Beast ~ Feb. 26 2026
https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-billionaires-win-battle-to-buy-cnn-and-turn-it-trumpy/
What SHOULD happen and what WILL happen are TWO VERY different things!
What SHOULD happen is that EVERY attorney involved in the attainment of these records should be disbarred, indicted and prosecuted for their involvement.
What WILL happen? Nothing!
Two Tiered justice? Nope! NO JUSTICE!
Unfortunately!
It’s worth repeating: the only sure way to prevent this unlawful behavior by government ‘officials’ in the future it to put their publicly-funded salaries and pensions on the line for their intentional color of law violations. Do it today. Not tommorow. Today. Start the process by filing charges against Smith, Garland, and all other officers of the court including the judges who signed the ‘colorful’ warrants. Don’t put it off any longer. Do not empanel a grand jury in DC, just file the charges yourself, DOJ. Ensure each receives a fair trial based on evidence. If after a fair trial with evidence presented the defendants are not found guilty, then fine, release them. However, if found guilty, imprison the convicted to the fullest extent the law allows and garnish every dollar of taxpayers money paid to them in wages, monies set aside for their retirement, then return it to their victims.
“to prevent this unlawful behavior by government ‘officials …”
What planet do you live on?
Turls goes full shill over which R’s were checking in with rat pelt Donnie as he was trying to overthrow the government. Full stop.
Looking forward to magat vomit headed my way from his cult followers and Russian bots.
Party on!!
How about writing a coherent criticism?
At least the agents involved were fired. Smith should be disbarred along with the rest of the infamous practicing legal trash especially in NY who use the courts to get in the news and citizens go broke defending their rights. It’s disgusting.
Ok, you’re the umpteenth commenter blaring the stupid idea that Smith should be…. blah blah blah.
Present your legally reasoning why and how to do so?
Lawyers are not required to be convicted of a crime to be disbarred.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump will preside over a U.N. Security Council meeting in what the United Nations on Thursday said would be a first.
The United States takes over the rotating presidency of the 15-member council for the month of March, and the first lady’s office said the meeting she will preside over will “emphasize education’s role in advancing tolerance and world peace.”
She will “emphasize education’s role”, while her husband dismantles the Dept of Education.
You really couldn’t make up this insanity, even if you tried.
If a writer at Saturday Night Live proposed such insanity for a skit he would be fired.
https://apnews.com/article/melania-trump-united-nations-security-council-a73e49e3062a991c634292cee89220ed
Dept of Education is a joke since the Peanut man came up it.
He should have stuck with making beer with his brother.
DOE is a joke. And you’re the manifestation of that.
That beer thing, was simply a licensing effort. He did not make beer.
Will Jack Smith ever be held to account for his actions? I think we all know the likelihood is nil. I’m glad Mr. Turley is providing his analysis on this situation – I’m just discouraged because I don’t see a realistic path to justice for Mr. Smith, or his victims.
Forget Congress “investigating” this matter…..pick a US Attorney with backbone and a genuine dedication to the Rule of Law and have that person lead a proper thorough Criminal Investigation into the matter with a view of identifying every violation of Federal Law that occurred, indict every culpable individual, and prosecute them in Federal Court.
I can see Garland, members of the January 6th Committee, FBT, Smith, and members of the White House staff and others within government that should be held accountable for identifiable criminal acts.
Face it Professor…Congress is a place without any ability to conduct and effective investigation or file criminal charges.
Congress is just a pack of Weasels….that are good at talking…and really good at doing nothing and in the end all protect one another with nary a concrete result that results in justifiable and effective punishment of its members.
At some point fence rails, hot tar, and a bag of feathers and a midnight ride to the State Lines surrounding Washington DC shall be required to properly clean house. That will be when the Citizens have finally had enough of this evil charade.
“pick a US Attorney with backbone and a genuine dedication …” All well and good, but US Attys. do not have the required characteristic. Politics has a very long arm and no one would risk live and career for that investigation.
Why are commenters here so dumb and naïve?
Can you imagine if this were the other way around, we would not learn it from the good professor.
It would have been all over the Media this morning:
“Trump administration ordered Special Counsel to Spy on Christopher Wray and Ron Klain, with Orders to Not Inform Members of Congress!” and
“Trump’s Special Counsel Tells Telecommunications Carriers to Not Tell Congress that Members’ Calls Were Secretly Seized and Surveilled!”
Lin,
Well said!!! Only goes to prove how MSM is nothing more than a mouth piece for the DNC. They make the Soviet Union’s Pravda look tame.
“Only goes to prove how MSM is nothing more than a mouth piece for the DNC”
Ya know, that’s the 71st time you’re used that cliché on this blog. Are you cut-n-pasting text all the time, or is that a spontaneous idea?
Are you indicating]g that you can read Russian, you wrote Pravda look tame? BTW, the Soviet Union has not existed since 12/25/91.
Anonymous, your statement begins with a lie. No one believes that you went back and counted
71 times when UpstateFarmer said that the MSM is a mouthpiece for the DNC. Had you said that he has said the same thing many times before you might have been believable. Your lack of support for your statement and your use of the hyperbole tells us all we need to know about the type of person you are. Carl Jung gave us a definitive of your personality type. The eternal child.
You’re a well known as a local idiot. And again you prove it. Mind of a fruit fly.
Try AI.
Shall we do you next? We got your IP address.
If you are counting the number of times. . .”71st time”, you need to get a real job and get some free time in the sun for a few days.
If you had any experience with modern computing, als you live in 1960 still …. AI search. But one can suppose you don’t know what that is. Its sorta like an abacus but…
And what would be the other way round? Do you always write in clichés?
It is an idiom, not a cliche.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20other%20way%20around
https://usdictionary.com/idioms/the-other-way-around/
Please do not use big words that you do not understand while trying to discredit others. Thanks.
Lin,
HA!! Once again, you take the annony down with such grace and eloquence and with just a sentence or two! Well done!
grace and eloquence? Can you define that please. Obvious that you’re in over your bumpkin head. What college did you get a degree from?
No, its a cliché’. BTW, you spelt cliché’ wrong. Guess its a big word for you.
Idiom? You mean idiot?
We talk so much about the dems’ lawfare when in reality they are actually lawless.
Thus far their mandates and compelled behavior for citizens has required voluntary participation on the citizenry’s part; that they sink lower and lower should have us all standing at attention, if there is a next time they will codify it all replete with harsh penalties for defying their dictates, just like China or Iran, and now parts of Western Europe.
Would have happened already had November gone differently. They do not have any issues with the likes of Smith or his methods or logic, it’s that simple.
Lawless? Then they were charged and convicted? Please expand on that allegation.
@Anonymous
It’s clear you simply hover here all day. If you aren’t paid, man do you need a hobby.
Calm down Jim. You’re overthinking and overreacting.
Hover, wanted to say the same about you. I have a big family, we all have the same last name… Anon.
James,
Quite right. They change laws, ignore the statue of limitations in their lawless quest to “Get Trump!” Now, we have evidence of even more wrong doing on their part to, again, “Get Trump!!”
And where did you find that intellectual gem? Evidence? What evidence, what case are you referring to?
James the Bot says the following:
“Thus far their mandates and compelled behavior for citizens has required voluntary participation on the citizenry’s part; that they sink lower and lower should have us all standing at attention, if there is a next time they will codify it all replete with harsh penalties for defying their dictates, just like China or Iran, and now parts of Western Europe.”
There is no question that this absurd, nonsensical, internally self-contradictory statement is the work of a very poorly trained AI bot.
Firstly, this is a very poorly constructed run-on sentence, that should in fact be 3 sentences.
Secondly, the statement is internally self-contradictory. Democrats, who have no control in the government, somehow manage to compel behavior with mandates for which citizens voluntarily participate. If behavior has been “compelled”, then by definition it is not voluntary.
This statement is simply a nonsensical jumble of key words strung together in a way that is completely devoid of meaning.
Clearly the work of a very poor AI bot.
Either that, or the product of a highly mentally impaired inmate confined to an institution for his own protection.
Been saying that about him for months. Notice how many commenters resort to clichés’? As if they’re fed those responses.
OK, first things first. DOJ needs to publish the FBI affidavit seeking the phone records. The recorded call between Wiles and her lawyer may have been a “gypsy,” meaning it was illegal, so there may not be an affidavit or warrant for that one. The lawyer claims he didn’t authorize the recording, but we have not yet heard from Wiles, so we cannot say for absolute certainty that the recording was illegal. It comes down to a question for Smith and others: what did you know and when did you know it? I would add, and what did you do about it? The answers, assuming they don’t take the Fifth, might show accessory after the fact, the latter being, among other things, the illegal wiretapping of a client and lawyer.
Some statutes may have tolled on some of these alleged crimes, but that can be cured with a RICO charge that spans 10 years. The “enterprise” was the anti-Trump movement, illegally operating under the color of law to conduct and perform unlawful investigations, including unauthorized wiretapping, clearly a racketeering activity. Another requirement for RICO is that two or more people must have acted in furtherance of the enterprise. The witness list would be a mile long, as people, mostly well-heeled political types, try to get on the bus to avoid being run over by it or tossed under it. The non-pros unit at DOJ would have to go to a third shift to keep up.
I think Jonathan Turley would make a good special counsel for this RICO case and would work well with US Attorney Piro to unravel this continuing mess once and for all.
Publish? Why? To be direct, it doesn’t concern you or the public.
JJC,
Thank you for your legal analysis and input. I appreciate it.
You’re certainly welcome. I do what I can to help the dimwitted commenters like you.
Okay, just teasing. Why don’t you make the argument that it is of public concern?
You won’t.. Will you. Shall I tell you why?
Brilliant – Your RICO angle is good. Consider ‘how far & wide’ the “racketeering activity” is, the DOJ, but would you go as far wide as John Brennan and the Jim Comey, Wray and Others? The width and scope of the RICO maybe narrowed to Smith and Garland, but would you be willing to include multiple RICO cases for the rest?
1. Bennan/CIA 2. Jim Comey/FBI … The Get Trump Operation utilized all the ABC-Agency’s Units and of course the Puppet Masters behind the scenes (HRC, DNC, and They who shall not be named…)
Now write it in English.
Why? Mandarin is the most spoken language in the World, Learn Mandarin.
It has been suggested here that no one in the FBI would have risked their job to oppose an unlawful order. I guess that means that Fidelity,Bravery, Integrity are just meaningless words. I for one dont believe that.
Meaningless words? Well, they are just words, in fact, with definitions.
Mulit-part attorney – client relationship question for Turley: Who was Susan Wiles’ attorney who knew of the surveillance but failed to inform her? Has the mother-fornicator been disbarred? If not, why not?
Why not? None of your business. Atty/ client privileges.
Jack Smith should have been disbarred a long time ago for his unethical behavior. Turkey is correct that AG Garland should be blamed for not exercising oversight. But what about the courts just signing off on warrants?
Unethical behavior? What was unethical? Do or anyone have facts?
The never ending saga of lies, spying, fraud, insider trading, government corruption and the only jail time was for being in D.C. on 1/6.
Turley needs to stop dancing around the point. Jack Smith was picked because of his past record not despite it and he did exactly what was expected of him. He was Garland’s willing patsy. Who’s getting most of the heat? Smith not Garland. Turley’s saying it without saying it gets tiresome sometimes.
Its an opinion piece, not journalism. Got that?
Thanks Captain Obvious. Would never have known without your powers of observation.
You’re welcome. let me know if I can be of service again. Always willing to help mentally disabled Americans.
Thank god that weasel was not confirmed to the Supreme Court. Especially not to replace Scalia.
“In his prior testimony, Smith offered little to justify these orders beyond a shrug that such secret orders routinely occur. However, he was targeting a “who’s who” listing of top political opponents to President Biden and the Democrats.”
And despite all their efforts, seems they came up with . . . nothing. Again.
This should offer as fair warning to all, they will stoop to any low levels in their pursuit of power. Be warned.
That’s your deduction, despite … Gawd, you are so dumb.
Upstate.
Man the libs are pissed today. Just look at the reply’s.
Love it.
Give him a fair trial then hang him.
You first.
By his pelotas if he has any…
You’re in luck, you ain’t got any.
“. . . targeting now FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.” (JT)
“Mafia families target associates of rivals to disrupt business, create fear, and weaken the opposing family’s infrastructure.”
“Rival families may threaten an associate’s life or livelihood, compelling them to flip, provide intelligence, or work against their original family.”
“Targeted attacks on an associate’s business dealings (e.g., hijacking, extortion, destroying property) weaken the opposing family’s financial base.”
“Because associates are often not formal, initiated members, they are considered more disposable, making them primary targets for intimidation rather than high-ranking, protected members.”
Oops. Sorry. I thought the topic was Mafia tactics.
Sam,
Reads like the Godfather.
You can read?
Who are you quoting?
There is a reason why the fascists in Garland’s DOJ hired fascist Jack Smith to “get Trump”. They knew his methods. They knew his record. They knew his Gestapo tactics. And that’s what they wanted. There was no hint of fairness or independence in Smith’s prosecution. None. Sieg heil to the Democrat fascists that cheer like seals for this illegal behavior.
You lost at gestapo tactics and the nazi allusions. You sure got a lot of nazi stuff in your brain.