Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., said on “Newsmax” Friday morning that former special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of President Donald Trump collapsed under legal and public scrutiny, calling the investigations a politically motivated effort during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday.
Fry, who sits on the committee, told “National Report” that the testimony underscored Republican claims that Smith’s prosecutions were improperly pursued and collapsed once tested in court and in public.
“I think the whole hearing, if you look at it even under the slightest light, his entire case melted, it melted in the courts, obviously resulting in dismissals and under public scrutiny, it melted,” Fry said.
“This wasn't a pursuit of the law and the facts that this was a political hit job,” he continued. “That was the entire purpose of it.”
The congressman said, “If you look at everything from his unlawful appointment to the way in which he tried to accelerate the trial timelines, to the methods, even at the raids at Mar-a-Lago, these things were beyond the norm.”
Fry said these moves “were in violation of Department of Justice manual regulations, if you will, and violation of the law, the Constitution. He flaunted it and it was all in pursuit of one target.”
Smith’s appearance marked his first public testimony on Capitol Hill about the two criminal investigations that shadowed Trump during the 2024 campaign and were later dropped after Trump’s return to office, consistent with longstanding Justice Department policy barring prosecution of a sitting president.
Fry pointed to an exchange involving Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, during questioning about investigative steps that referenced then House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and whether a court filing characterized him as a “flight risk.”
Fry said Smith “couldn't remember it, obviously. And I thought that was pretty shocking.”
He added, “I think Brandon brought out a good point, which is, hey, look, the speaker of the House, the number three in the country, like he's going to abscond off to some faraway place if under public scrutiny from this investigation.”
Fry said, “Nobody believes that. And I think that's, you know, part and parcel to this, the way in which the Justice Department and the legal system were weaponized against conservatives, but particularly President Trump.”
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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