Republicans Accuse SUNY Oneonta Grad Jack Smith of Bias in Trump Investigations
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
National Republicans are accusing former Special Counsel Jack Smith of pursuing a politically motivated investigation into their alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021 attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith, a SUNY Oneonta graduate who was raised in Clay, New York, has privately welcomed President Donald Trump’s demands that the Department of Justice investigate and prosecute him for so-far-undefined crimes so he can make his case, “The New York Times” reported on November 3.
On October 28, the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee released documents showing that more than 150 Republican operatives and leaders were investigated as part of the FBI’s “Arctic Frost” investigation. In a post on X, the committee highlighted that Steve Bannon, Scott Perry, Rudolph Giuliani, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro, Dan Scavino, Jeff Rosen, and Ed Martin were investigated. The committee described their inclusion as evidence that “Biden’s DOJ” wanted “to take down President Trump and his supporters.”
The Senate judiciary committee, also Republican-led, criticized subpoenas related to at least 430 Republican individuals and entities as part of the Arctic Frost investigation. “Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus,” Senator Chuck Grassley said at an October 29 press conference. “Contrary to what [Jack] Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition.”
Among those investigated and subpoenas were filed in relation to were Sens. Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, and Marsha Blackburn. Many of the federal lawmakers voted against certifying the 2020 election, and state lawmakers challenged it, in an attempt to keep President Trump in office.
The FBI documents said that the subjects of investigation “corruptly conspired to obstruct the United States Congress’ certification of the 2020 Presidential election results by submitting fraudulent certificates of electors’ votes to the United States Government.”
Across numerous lawsuits filed by President Trump and his allies, no court has found that the 2020 election was illegitimate. Smith’s investigation has been criticized by some Republicans as a politically motivated probe and a violation of the Fourth Amendment, due to the alleged unwarranted searches and seizures of congressional members’ data.
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