'Ideological Zealot': Sen. Cotton Offers Blistering Criticism of Special Counsel Jack SmithRebecca Downs
August 02, 2023
On Tuesday, as Spencer covered, former and potentially future President Donald Trump was indicted for the third time by a D.C,-based grand jury, as Special Counsel Jack Smith brought charges to do with the events on and leading up to January 6, 2021. The charges earned considerable criticism, with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) earning attention for his particularly harsh words during his appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle."
After having "skimmed through" the indictment, Cotton said he agreed with host Laura Ingraham's categorizing the indictment "a diatribe." He also explained that "it seems like something you would get from an MSNBC producer for a special on that channel. These are all constitutionally protected activities in which former President Trump engaged, political activities and free speech protected by the First Amendment."
Adding that "you don't have to agree with him, you don't have to think he was right," Cotton also noted "I don't see how these charges can go forward without a serious constitutional challenge from the former president."
Cotton had strong words not only for the charges, but for Smith as well, referring to him as "an ideological zealot" and calling to mind how he charged former Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) on similar crimes in 2014. As the senator pointed out, though, those charges were reversed unanimously at the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016, "because his legal theories were so far-fetched."
On Wednesday, McDonnell lambasted Smith's legal history as one which shows the prosecutor to be "partisan," who "exercised bad judgment," and had an "overzealousness about charging." McDonnell himself had legal experience as the Attorney General of Virginia before his time as governor.
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Source:
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/rebeccadowns/2023/08/02/ideological-zealot-sen-cotton-offers-blistering-criticism-of-special-counsel-jack-smith-n2626557
