Trump says he will fire special adviser Jack Smith ‘within 2 seconds’ if re-elected

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday he would fire special counsel Jack Smith “within two seconds” of taking office if he is re-elected in November.

Trump was asked during a friendly interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would first pardon himself or fire Smith to clear the legal cloud hanging over him as president. Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, blamed Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents.

“It’s so simple. I would fire him in two seconds,” Trump responded. “He will be one of the first people approached.”

Trump, who regularly attacks Smith and has previously suggested he would fire him if he were president, called Smith a “crooked person.”

Trump, if elected, could order the Justice Department to impeach Smith, although he likely would not be able to do so alone since Smith is not a presidential appointee.

When he was investigated by another special counsel as president, Trump urged his then-White House lawyer, Don McGahn, to pressure the Justice Department to that he fire Robert Mueller. McGahn refused.

Smith has filed two federal lawsuits against Trump. One, accusing him of illegally storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was dismissed in July, a decision Smith is appealing. The other, accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was delayed by a Supreme Court opinion granting broad immunity for official acts performed during the presidency.

After Trump announced he would fire Smith, Hewitt raised the possibility that Congress could impeach Trump over the decision. Trump said he didn’t believe that would happen.

“I don’t think they’ll impeach me if I fire Jack Smith,” Trump said. “Jack Smith is a scoundrel.”

Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign sought to use revelations from Smith’s Trump investigations against the Republican nominee. They released an ad earlier this month featuring video of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and headlines from Smith’s investigation.

“He knew what he was doing,” the on-screen ad shows.

While criticizing Smith, Trump praised U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who dismissed the classified documents case against the former president in July.

“We had a brave and brilliant judge in Florida,” Trump said. “By the way, she’s a brilliant judge. I don’t know her. I never spoke to him. I never spoke to him. But we had a courageous and very brilliant judge.