Former President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again PAC is ripping into the special counsel, Jack Smith, claiming he has a "sordid history of targeting conservatives."
In a statement issued Friday, the Trump team pointed to a number of examples of Smith's "troubling history" with conservatives:
- The Washington Examiner reported in November, 2022, that Lois Lerner, as director of the IRS' Exempt Organizations Unit, led an IRS effort targeting Tea Party groups and other conservative nonprofits. The Trump team noted Smith "was involved in the Lois Lerner IRS scandal."
- "Congressman Jim Jordan had said [on Fox Business] that while at the Obama DOJ, Smith worked with the IRS to find ways to target conservative non-profits," the statement said.
- "Guess who was the lead person at the Justice Department looking for ways to target and prosecute the very people looking into who Lois Lerner went after? Jack Smith, the guy Merrick Garland just named as special counsel to go after President Trump," Jordan said.
And, the Trump PAC said that "Smith also has a history of targeting a Republican presidential candidate."
The PAC said: "As Mike Davis, president of Article III Project, put it: 'In 2010, Obama Attorney General Eric Holder picked Jack Smith to run Public Integrity Section. Smith took out VA Gov. Bob McDonnell as a potential Republican presidential candidate — on bogus corruption charges. Supreme Court reversed, 9-0.
"Now Smith is back — to take out Trump."
The statement continued: "Gov. McDonnell gave an interview to Newsmax in which he said he's 'very concerned about this person heading it up.' "
The statement also said Smith's wife donated $2,000 to support Joe Biden's presidential campaign and donated to progressive Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The Trump team said Smith's wife also "produced a glowing documentary about Michelle Obama for Netflix."
And it said: "Ted Cruz summed it up well: '5 facts about Trump Special Counsel Jack Smith: 1 — Picked by Garland 2 — Led debacle of a prosecution of Bob McDonnell, reversed 9-0 by SCOTUS 3 — Involved in the IRS targeting of conservatives 4 — Wife is a Biden donor 5 — Wife produced a Michelle Obama doc & anti-Citizens United film.' "