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.”
Don’t let Turley let you forget that everyone that Smith was investigating participated in the first attempted coup in US history. No one is immune from investigation for that.
If the heinous state criminals below were not Drawn and Quartered for the most abject crime against the nation ever, no individual will be prosecuted or even censured in this case.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”
– Barack Obama
____________________
“We will stop him.”
– Peter Strzok to FBI paramour Lisa Page
_____________________________________________
“[Obama] wants to know everything we’re doing.”
– Lisa Page to FBI paramour Peter Strzok
_____________________________________________
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office — that there’s no way he gets elected — but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before 40.”
– Peter Strzok to FBI parmour Lisa Page
____________________________________________
“People on the 7th floor to include Director are fired up about this [Trump] server.”
– Bill Priestap
_________________
“I had a discussion with the case team and we believe there to be predication to include former President of the United States Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject.”
– Timothy Thibault to John Crabb, U.S. Attorney’s Office, D.C.
___________________________________________________________________
The Obama Coup D’etat in America is the most egregious abuse of power and the most prodigious crime in American political history. The co-conspirators are:
Kevin Clinesmith, Bill Taylor, Eric Ciaramella, Rosenstein, Mueller/Team, Andrew Weissmann,
James Comey, Christopher Wray, McCabe, Strozk, Page, Laycock, Kadzic, Sally Yates,
James Baker, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Priestap, Kortan, Campbell, Sir Richard Dearlove,
Christopher Steele, Simpson, Joseph Mifsud, Alexander Downer, Stefan “The Walrus” Halper,
Azra Turk, Kerry, Hillary, Huma, Mills, Brennan, Gina Haspel, Clapper, Lerner, Farkas, Power,
Lynch, Rice, Jarrett, Holder, Brazile, Sessions (patsy), Nadler, Schiff, Pelosi, Obama,
Joe Biden, James E. Boasberg, Emmet Sullivan, Gen. Milley, George Soros, John McCain,
Marc Elias, Igor Danchenko, Fiona Hill, Charles H. Dolan, Jake Sullivan, Strobe Talbot,
Cody Shear, Victoria Nuland, Ray “Red Hat” Epps, Don Berlin, Kathy Ruemmler, Rodney Joffe,
Paul Vixie, L. Jean Camp, Andrew Whitney, Lisa O. Monaco, Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg,
Matthew Colangelo, Merrick Garland, Juan Merchan, Timothy Thibault et al.
Turley talks about what SHOULD ALARM us, and proceeds to attack Jack Smith and his “secret orders”, without disclosing that these were subpoenas limited in time–just before and just after January 6–and limited in scope–just the numbers called and numbers from which calls were received, which is information in the possession of third parties–cellular telephone companies. Smith was investigating January 6th, looking at evidence of a conspiracy, and Wiles and Patel were close associates of Trump. What was Smith supposed to do–ignore the insurrection, ignore the existing evidence of a conspiracy instead of the MAGA lie that J6 was just a “protest” that got out of hand? We know there was pre-planning–a British journalist was embedded with the Proud Boys and went with them on reconnaisance missions prior to J6, plotting the best way to get past the Capitol Police by creating distractions at one point to free up police at another point of entry–all to gain access to the Capitol and to try to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory. We know there were planning meetings at the Willard Hotel. We know all about how Trump tried to bully Pence into refusing his Constitutional duty to accept the votes, and the fake elector scheme and all of the lies that continue to this day.
Turley’s choice to leave out these critical details SHOULD ALARM us. Turley has gone full-MAGA, and MAGA has its shorts in a twist because they KNOW that Trump and Republicans are going to lose the midterms, they know Trump’s not going to stop lying, he’s going to keep up the tariffs because his ego needs to have corporate CEOs and heads of other countries crawling to him, begging for exemptions and giving him gifts, and that most Americans know that the economy is NOT “booming”. We don’t believe his lie about WHO pays for tariffs–we do–to the tune of an average of $1,700 more per family per year. So, the next best thing is to try to discredit Democrats. Oh, of course, they’re also trying to pre-rig the midterms. Trump thinks he can sign an Executive Order commanding that no state can allow mail ballots (even though he and Pence consistently voted that way for 4 years, and that despite numerous investigations, there’s no evidence of widespread fraud in mail ballots or voting machines), ban voting machines, and that ballots received after election day, even though they were postmarked on or before election day, cannot be counted. Also, he thinks he can require proof of citizenship just to vote. And, of course, these measures came after Trump tried to get red states to create more red districts–he just can’t stand to lose, but he’s still going to. All of this is calculated to prevent American voters from voting against Republicans. That SHOULD ALARM us.
there was no link to your column
When did Jonathan Turley become a radical right wing extremist?
He did not.
The Democrat party got highjacked by radical far-left wing extremists who, by the new evidence, may have committed illegal activities at various levels. The good professor is just pointing that out.
There should be an investigation and IF in fact there was illegal wrong doing, then charges should be brought forth.
When he came to realize the left was nuts and dangerous
John Say,
Okay. That made me laugh.
However, you are also correct. The good professor and many others such as yourself, OLLY et al. have noted the far-leftists are, in fact, not only nuts but dangerous with their calls for things like censorship, packing the SC, to undermine the Constitution and all the other stupid and crazy things they have said to ensure one party rule.
I don’t get it, Mr. Gadsden Rainbow flag.
Didn’t the “left” support immutably absurd, counterintuitive, irrational, and completely “political” homosexual marriage—as if that were possible or even conceivable for sane people?
Are you implying that you are now nondefective and conservative?
@John
You always cite law and precedent and it is very much appreciated; I enjoy your comments. I hope at some point you realize as well that this means exactly jack and sheet to the modern left, particularly the young and woke contingent. And if in power, they will show us that, and right quick. The rest of the, admittedly, perfectly sane portion of the argument means literally nothing to them. Zero. And things that used to be simple law or procedure will be relics of memory.
Interesting question from an obviously radical Leftist, since you didn’t apply any objectivity at all to your reading of the article. If you think what Smith did was ok, then you are a big part of the problem.
I bet you yell at your bathroom scale when the poundage keeps rising.
JT didn’t become anything he wasn’t before. It takes an ounce of humilty to ask the most basic of questions: Is it you or me? His Democratic party went radically to the Left, which makes JT appear to have moved radically to the right.
MAGA oligarchs started making it worth his while financially, Turley turned MAGA. He’s not totally “radical”–he bows out of commenting on things that are indefensible, puts the MAGA spin on some items, like today’s piece about Jack Smith that omits critical details that put things into proper prospective, but he still harps on the theme of “rage”, like there’s something wrong with being outraged over Trump. It’s not normal for a President to constantly lie, to use the office of the President for personal gain, to openly use the DOJ and FBI to go after his perceived enemies, to cover up records of a massive sex trafficking ring involving a former best friend (the extent of his involvement, we don’t know–we want the records), to have a cabinet full of syncophants whose main qualification is to do what he tells them, to create a private army of poorly-trained masked thugs who tear gas and abuse peaceful people and even kill Americans who protest, to create a system of concentration camps, to illegally enact tariffs that are driving up the cost of goods…just a few examples. He has rolled back consumer and environmental protections, and those who bend the knee don’t have to worry about anti-trust litigation–like the current proposed purchase of Warner Brothers. Now, he’s trying to rig the midterms and make it difficult for Americans who don’t support him to vote against Republicans. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it’s clear that Trump is for sale, that the US Presidency is all about his ego, need for affirmation and attention and to pay back wealthy donors and to keep power at any cost.
When did the American Founders at the top of Professor Turley’s blog page become radical right-wing extremists?
More to the point, what the —— are you doing in their country?
Oh, of course, I forgot; you’re looking for all the largesse from other people’s money you can lay your grubby hands on, right, comrade parasite?
Interestingly, there is a good possibility that the Founders denied you citizenship and any right to vote in their immigration law, the Naturalization Acts of 1802.
The Founders, and some people’s Forefathers, gave actual Americans their Nation, their Law, and their Population, didn’t they?
You didn’t like it, but you’re here anyway.
Oops!
Why hasn’t this man been indicted and arrested. This Stalinist lawfare has no place in the USA but it will continue to happen when Dems seize power again unless something is done. And no grand juries in DC where 99.9% of the jury pool will acquit a defendant even if he committed murder in the courtroom before their very eyes.
Because he did nothing wrong. Turley has not pointed out what laws he broke or what crimes were committed.
According to Turley; “The recently disclosed files from these investigations are an indictment of Smith himself.”
*unfortunately, no files have been disclosed as far as I can tell.
Civil
42 U.S. Code § 1983 – Civil action for deprivation of rights
Criminal
18 U.S. Code § 241 – Conspiracy against rights
18 U.S. Code § 242 – Deprivation of rights under color of law
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/242
John Say,
The accusations of ‘misconduct’ against Jack Smith fall apart upon legal scrutiny because they fail to identify a specific violation of the law. Calling for a prosecutor to be indicted for following standard federal procedures—such as issuing court-authorized subpoenas for third-party metadata—is legally baseless.
Turley’s argument relies on emotive generalities and unverified allegations precisely because the established facts and current case law do not support a claim of criminal overreach. If the investigative methods were truly illegal, they would have been suppressed by a judge during the two years of active litigation; the fact that they weren’t demonstrates that Smith was operating within the bounds of the Department of Justice’s Justice Manual.”
Furthermore, Turley’s characterization of ‘secret orders’ is a misrepresentation of 18 U.S.C. § 2705, a statute passed by Congress specifically to protect the integrity of federal investigations. These are not ‘secret’ in the sense of being extra-legal; they are court-authorized nondisclosure orders. To obtain them, Smith had to convince a neutral federal judge that notifying the targets—who were at the center of an investigation into the obstruction of justice and the January 6th insurrection—posed a specific risk of evidence destruction or witness intimidation. By framing these as ‘abusive,’ Turley is essentially arguing that prosecutors should be required to tip off subjects of an investigation before evidence can be secured, a position that contradicts decades of standard law enforcement practice.”
want us to use AI to see where you picked up “emotive generalities?”
Go right ahead. It won’t change the facts on the issue.
Nice! Now let me hear you say, “whitewash!”
Well, now hold on a minute there. I’m thinkiing it’ll probably take us, like, three minutes to come up with charges sufficent to jailing Jack Smith. And that we would have tremendous fun doing so! To begin, this guy wasn’t even a lawful prosecutor. And he violated the civil rights of many.