The U.S. Constitution was written to limit the power of the government–not the rights of the people. It was written to protect the rights of the people–free speech, freedom from unwarranted searches, right to a fair trial, etc. But it really isn’t useful if it is ignored.
On Wednesday, The Daily Signal posted an article about the constitutional violations in the Jack Smith investigation of President Trump.
The article reports:
Former special counsel Jack Smith’s team in 2023 bypassed certain procedures to obtain and review text messages from 44 members of Congress in an investigation of President Donald Trump, according to Justice Department documents released by senators Tuesday.
The Justice Department must follow a filter review process when obtaining documents or communications related to members of Congress, under the principle of separation of powers and to prevent privileged materials from being swept up in a criminal prosecution. Communications from members of Congress about their official legislative duties are generally protected from criminal prosecution under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
A letter from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis, stated that “the special counsel’s Investigative Team apparently bypassed the Filter Team and directly accessed these text messages.” The Justice Department attached documents to the letter outlining the Filter Team’s review process.
Grassley noted the matter Wednesday morning in his opening remarks at the confirmation hearing for Todd Blanche to be attorney general.
“Based on the information provided to the committee, Smith’s operation cut corners and blew through constitutional stop signs, instead of respecting them, and has been advised about the constitutional problems,” Grassley said during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
“Even if Smith’s team had been instructed to look for congressional or other privileged information, it wouldn’t matter. Because in this example, it appears the filter routine was entirely bypassed.”
The article notes:
Smith investigated Trump’s challenge to the outcome of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, as well as Trump’s retention of government documents at his home in Mar-a-Lago. The text messages obtained by Smith’s team appear to be related to the election probe.
“This is yet another grotesque example of the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Justice Department,” Johnson said in a public statement Tuesday. “Jack Smith’s team acted with impunity as they disregarded their own protocols to obtain and access White House text messages, including messages to and from 44 members of Congress. At this point, no one should be shocked by Jack Smith’s recklessness and blatant abuse of power, but they should be outraged.”
Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that Jack Smith will be held accountable for his actions other than possibly in the court of public opinion.