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While turnabout is fair play, the more critical issue with respect to Jack Smith and others in this series the mobilizing of multiple government agencies to isolate, impede, marginalize, and bankrupt the political opposition.  Appointed special counsel by then Attorney General Merrick Garland, Smith came close to achieving the goal of eliminating Donald J. Trump from political office.

Born John Luman Smith in 1969 near Syracuse, NY, he attended the State University of New York at Oneonta, graduating summa cum laude (1991) in political science, a common refuge for future politicians and bureaucrats.  His intelligence was further demonstrated by his receipt of a law degree from Harvard, cum laude.  

Not long after graduating, Jack Smith began working as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan, serving in the domestic violence and sex crime departments.  By 1999, he moved to the Department of Justice (DOJ), becoming an assistant attorney in the Eastern District of New York.  There, he handled high-profile cases, including capital murder.  From 2008-10, Jack was an investigation coordinator at the International Criminal Court (The Hague), leading the investigation into the sitting president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci. He brought charges against several others for war crimes in Kosovo.  

As is the province of most smart, loyal apparatchicks, advancement is accelerated.  Jack was promoted to chief of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section in 2010.  Considering Attorney General Eric Holder’s activities, like the botched Fast and Furious gun scandal, continual race-baiting, and the seizing of phone records of AP journalists, the word integrity seems like a contradiction in terms.  Smith did not question Holder’s “integrity” in these and other questionable cases and remained in his position until 2015.

Apparently, not caring to stay around Washington in the wake of a Trump victory, Smith lowered himself to take the post of assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee (2015-17), possibly because he was assured that the top position (U.S. attorney) would be open in 2016 at the resignation of David Rivera.  However, Donald Cochran was confirmed for that job, and Smith left in 2017.  When political advancement seemed uncertain, as per the usual practice, the “private” sector provided ample compensation.  He became vice president and head of litigation for the Hospital Corporation of America and had no record of handling a single case, whether to sue or defend.  Perhaps it was a strictly managerial post.

Jack’s career as a prosecutor was not without controversy.  Under A.G. Eric Holder, he successfully prosecuted former Virginia governor Bob McConnell (R) and his wife a mere week after he left office (with a 55% approval rating).  The Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond produced a guilty verdict for accepting gifts, including jewelry for McConnell’s wife, Maureen.  The conviction was overturned at the Supreme Court in a highly unusual 8-0 decision, costing the former governor about $27 million. 

To illustrate Smith’s independent approach, he also brought charges against former Sen. John Edwards for misuse of campaign funds in concealing his scandalous affair during a time when Edwards’ wife had terminal cancer.  Edwards was an intense rival of Hillary Clinton in the 2010 primary.  But, as luck would have it, a deadlocked jury led to an acquittal, so the Dems didn’t need to hang one of their own; they just ended his political career.

Smith was criticized in and out of legal circles for expansive legal theories, rushed prosecutions, overreach, and political motivation.  In April of 2024, liberal legal journalist Ruth Marcus wrote for the Washington Post, “Smith’s decision to push for a broad immunity ruling (for Biden) has backfired, delaying justice and emboldening delays”.  Perhaps this is why the prosecution of Donald Trump failed.  Of all the cases brought against candidate Trump, this one had the most chance of success.  Smith, not doubt urged by the Biden White House, hurried to present a case before the election.  The classified documents retained at Mar-a-Lago had only Trump’s word, and perhaps one assistant, that he had declassified them orally, which, if true, is an acceptable act of the chief executive.  

Significantly, it was these very delays that pushed the case beyond the election, when presidential immunity was once again in force, making the legal challenge moot, and it was withdrawn by Smith.

Jack Luman Smith is now maneuvering to appear before congressional committees in public testimony in exchange for some immunity, as submitted on October 23 of this year.  He is responding to a subpoena issued by both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on October 14, 2025, that want to investigate “partisan and politically motivated prosecutions” of President Trump.  The respective committees have not yet scheduled a hearing, pending the review of applicable records from the FBI and DOJ regarding this matter.  His position will no doubt cast further doubt on Trump’s suitability to serve.  Yet, the gathering of evidence may prove to be another disaster for the left, since everything they have thrown at Trump so far has been counterproductive to their cause. 

Like others in the “get Trump” movement, Jack Smith professed to be an “independent”, did not make any religious profession, and majored in political “science” with additional degrees in law.  It must be noted that almost the entire cadre of political “science” professors were and are hard left.  Even at so-called conservative campuses, the social science departments are dominated by socialists in spirit, if not in fact.  This condition has prevailed since the 1930s because the bulk of our citizens turned a blind eye to what seemed like a harmless place for eggheads.  

Unless this situation is addressed, the hard left will be training up generation after generation of copycats.  You will find them in all fields these days, not just in politics, academia, and journalism.  Today, even doctors and nurses will have those who endorse killing what they call a fetus, which we call a baby, and gleefully participate in gender altering surgery and drugs.  Will you take the warning, or stand by and watch the world’s last bastion of liberty become a casualty?          

 *****

Image Credit: YouTube screenshot Washington Examiner