Trump: I’ll fire special counsel ‘within 2 seconds’ if re-elected

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday, former President Donald Trump said that he would fire special counsel Jack Smith “within two seconds” of taking office if re-elected in November.

Trump made the comments in response to a question over whether he’d first pardon himself or terminate Smith to remove the legal cloud hanging over him as president.

Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, has repeatedly been targeted by the Republican candidate for charging him with attempting to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.

“It’s so easy. I would fire him within two seconds, he’ll be one of the first things addressed,” claimed the 45th president during the interview, before calling Smith a “crooked person.”

Justice Department takeover

If Trump is re-elected on 5 November, he could order the Justice Department to remove Smith after being sworn into office in January. However, it wouldn’t be as simple as removing Smith himself. The special counsel is not a presidential appointee and cannot be dismissed by the president alone.

When he was investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller during his presidency, Trump urged his then-White House counsel, Don McGahn, to press the Justice Department to terminate Mueller. McGahn refused.

Smith has brought two federal cases against Trump. The first case accused him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. It was dismissed in July, a decision that Smith is appealing.

The other, more serious case charges him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. It has been delayed by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court in a 6-3 opinion conferring broad immunity for official acts made while president.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice, with Smith, filed a 165-page document attempting to circumvent the immunity ruling, claiming it was a “private criminal effort,” as Trump was no longer president during the 6 January riots.

The final days

After Trump said he would fire Smith, Hewitt raised the possibility that Congress could impeach Trump over the move. Trump replied that he did not believe that would happen.

“I don’t think they’ll impeach me if I fire Jack Smith,” Trump said. “Jack Smith is a scoundrel.”

The former president’s comments come a day after his chief of staff from 2017 to 2019, General John Kelly, described his old boss as a “fascist,” and claimed he had asked for “Hitler’s generals,” comments the Trump campaign denies.

As the race for the White House enters its final days, both candidates are frantically making pit stops across the handful of swing states that will decide the election. The Harris campaign has recently pivoted from its message of “joy” to making stark warnings about her opponent.

“We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power,” Harris said in a speech on Wednesday. “The question in 13 days will be: What do the American people want?”