Why Lindsey Graham’s message about special counsel Jack Smith matters

On By Littum

Those hoping to see Donald Trump held criminally responsible — again — for his alleged wrongdoing will have to lower their expectations. As my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained, the Republican’s election victory will effectively scuttle the prosecutor’s ongoing cases against him.

Corresponding That was reported by NBC News in the wake of the election, that Justice Department officials “have been evaluating how to dispose of the two federal criminal cases” before Trump takes office, “to comply with longstanding department policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.”

Time will tell if special counsel Jack Smith resigns before Inauguration Day — the president-elect has already promised to fire (and possibly expel) the prosecutor — but either way, it looks like his cases won’t proceed, regardless of their merit.

It was against this background that Senator Lindsey Graham sent a message of sorts to Smith via social media the morning after Election Day. South Carolina Republican wrote:

To Jack Smith and your team:

It’s time to look forward to a new chapter in your legal career as these politically motivated charges against President Trump hit a wall.

The Supreme Court essentially rejected what you tried to do, and after tonight it’s clear that the American people are tired of law enforcement. End these cases.

The American people deserve a refund.

So a few things.

First, as the sycophantic senator probably knows, there is literally no evidence to suggest that Smith’s cases are “politically motivated.”

Second, if Graham thinks that the Supreme Court’s ruling — written entirely by Republican-appointed justices — immunizing presidents from accountability is worth celebrating, I’ll encourage him to take a look again.

But even if we put these relevant details aside, it’s also worth appreciating what a departure this is from a position Graham has taken in recent times.

In 2017, for example, when Trump sought to impeach then-special counsel Robert Mueller, it was Graham who told reporters that if the then-president got rid of the then-special counsel, “it could be the beginning of the end of the Trump presidency.”

The South Carolinian added that the system needed “a check and balance here,” and Sen self-approved legislation it would prevent a president from acting unilaterally to remove a special counsel.

Months later, Graham also said it would be “corrupt” for Trump to remove a special counsel investigating him, adding that a president stopping an investigation without reason “would be a constitutional crisis.”

To be sure, there is one relevant detail that is different — Mueller didn’t indict Trump and Smith did — but Graham’s development on this speaks volumes about his partisan perspective.

This post updates ours related previous coverage.