BREAKING NEWS: Jim Jordan Ruthlessly Grills AG Garland About Selection Of Jack Smith, Email Record

thank I you gentleman's back Mr Garland why why Jack Smith why'd you pick him I've said um at the time I appointed Mr Smith I explained uh he was independent he was a longtime career prosecutor um with uh but there are probably other people who you would describe as independent longtime career prosecutor why did you pick this is probably the most high-profile special counsel investigation maybe in American history you're going to be investigating a former president a candidate for president and leading in all the polls and you pick Jack Smith most important selection may be ever made from attorney general when you comes to a special counsel I just want to know why you could have picked well I'm tell former AGS Deputy AGS us attorneys you got all kinds of lawyers in this town but you picked Jack all the people you just mentioned were political would be political appointees I appointed somebody who is not a political appointee somebody who was independent nonpartisan with an with a record of career experience as a prosecutor that seemed to me the perfect resume for making that kind of he was a guy you guy guy worked had to bring him back from Europe he worked at the IC worked at the world Court he was the best pick for the most high-profile investigation ever he was independent he was nonpartisan he had never held a political office he was never appointed in a political office was he your first choice a long career as a career was your first choice I'm not going to go into um the questions did you know him before you picked him I did not you never worked with him I did not did you meet with him prior to announcing his selection and telling what was going on course I did what what what what happened in that meeting I met with him I asked him if he would be willing to do this we talked about my understandings of the role of this office which are on the public record that's all did he ask for the job this is not a job I don't think anybody asks for I'm sorry no but that's not the question I asked you I said did Jack Smith ask did not ask me for the job no did did he convey through someone else that he wanted the job I I would be surprised if that were the case but I you don't know no I don't know so he may have I can only tell you what I know I chose him because he had a record of impartial um career experience as a prosecutor that's why he was chosen was it impartial when he went after Governor McDonald he was a member of he was after Governor McDonald that case gets appealed to the Supreme Court the Supreme Court unanimously said it was wrong and overturns the conviction he was a in a public Integrity section of the justice department a career position they made the decisions they thought were warranted and we respect the decision of the Supreme Court did the fact that he was interested in going after the very people who were targeted by the IRS about a decade ago did that have any influence on your selection get let's put up this slide here this is a this is from Jack Smith to uh some other folks in the justice department and it says could we ever charge a conspiracy to violate laws of the US for misuse of such nonprofits to get around around existing campaign Finance laws Jack Smith was looking to Pro prosecute the very people who were targeted by the Obama IRS I don't know you have excerpts from an email I've never seen you should know that commissioner s I'm just asking it this way into your decision did you know about this this this I don't know if it's I also don't know if it's true now IRS commissioner Sarah Ingram over see this from Jack Smith himself let's discuss tomorrow but maybe we should try to set up a meeting this week and here's the response here's the response you didn't get your meeting with Miss Ingram from the IRS but she's sending the head of the exempt organization's loest learner who's known to us so Jack Smith meeting with Lois learner looking for ways to prosecute the very people who were victims of the Obama IRS and I'm just asking did that factor in your decision to name Jack Smith as special counsel I didn't have any idea about the things didn't know about that no and I don't know whether they're true now by looking at this but they're definitely true that uh uh but you didn't know about but this guy was so important you have to bring him from Europe back here to go after president Trump name him as a special counsel uh do you regret the pick I'm sorry could do you regret picking him no I do not regret picking him well prosecutors aren't supposed to tamper with evidence and it looks like that's what he did he changed the sequence of the documents that he sees from Mar Lago I'm sorry that's a false characterization but that is on here's what he said to the court Mr attorney general there are some boxes where the order of items within the box is not the same as in the associated scans I mean he said it I didn't say it he told the report that now you're asking me to comment on a discovery dispute that's going ongoing in in a court I don't know the facts of it and I'm not going to com this is from Jack Smith filing with the court he admitted to the court that they tamper with the evidence he mishandled the very documents he's charging president Trump with mishandling and I'm just asking do you regret picking this guy as the special counsel in the most important special counsel investigation probably in American history I'm I'm sorry I didn't not hear the words tamper in the statement that Mr Smith filed he did not use those words well let me ask it this way are suppos to change the order of the documents that you SE and the physical documents don't match up with the scan doc you supposed to do that as a prosecutor this is a matter in dispute in Discovery in that court and I'm going to leave it for the district court to make a determination after I say one last cour makes not in dispute this is what he said in the court filing Jack Smith's team said that to the judge in the court by the way this case is now basically on hold because they've screwed up so many things again I don't know whether your description of the facts are true true or not true and I'm not going to intrude in a decision in a district court chair recogniz a gentleman from California Mr Attorney General

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Length: 5min 39sec (339 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 04 2024