May 20, 2024

Speaker Johnson Says He Won’t Defund Jack Smith’s Trump Probes

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OPINION: This content may include remark which reflects the writer’s opinion.


House Speaker Mike Johnson ( R- La. ) gave great news to special counsel Jack Smith in a Thursday interview.

As Smith continues to pursue charges against former president Donald Trump, Johnson told Politico that he would not consent to a request from some of the group’s more conventional people.

House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump supporter, has repeatedly attempted to cut off financing to Smith, a particular guidance for the Department of Justice, over the past year. However, during the meeting, Johnson stated that one cannot just “wave a broom and remove the specific counsel”.

Following his resignation as president in January 2021, Smith is handling two active criminal cases against Trump, including allegations that he allegedly hacked into confidential information and fraudulently attempted to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. According to Newsweek, the previous leader has entered a not-guilty appeal, claiming that the charges are politically motivated.

Smith’s request for federal funding to be halted by Johnson was met with,” No to wave a wand at and simply remove the specific guidance as a delivery,” Johnson said.

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He defended the position of particular prosecutors in investigating suspected wrong in a particular case. Johnson said:” There is a necessity for a function like that because sometimes the Department of Justice, which is an executive branch agency, ca n’t necessarily, without a conflict of interest, investigate or prosecute the president who’s their boss, or the president’s family”.

When he was asked if he would support an endeavor to amend paying bills to defund Smith’s business, Johnson responded,” No”. According to Newsweek, President Biden is improbable to sign such a measure, which would never pass the Democrat- controlled Senate.

Newsweek added:

According to Scott MacFarlane, a Congressional Correspondent for CBS News, Greene had requested Smith’s “defunding” on her list of demands to prevent her putting forth a motion to veto, triggering a House vote on his future on X, previously Twitter.

The House increasingly approved her activity to veto, which was brought forth the following evening by Greene, 359-43, in a bipartisan vote.

Greene’s relationship with the Speaker turned negative in April after he agreed to a$ 95 billion funding bill for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel after initially stating that he was against spending more money in Ukraine, especially.

In an X post on June 12, 2023, Greene also demanded that Smith’s business been denied funding, which Florida Representative Matt Gaetz supported.

She wrote:” This day, I’m writing an budget horse to DEFUND Special Counsel Jack Smith’s business and the entire inspection. I did not support any legislation that would allow the government to use weapons. I hope my Democratic associates will support me in every way.

Following a meeting with Trump at the author’s Mar-a-Lago house last month, Johnson and Trump discussed a significant bill to improve the integrity of the election.

According to Johnson, “every voter who registers to cast a ballot in a national poll had first demonstrate that they are an American citizen. ” Our bill do “place us on par with almost every other democracy in the world that also outlaws non-citizen voting. “

” It seems like common sense. I’m sure all of us would agree that we only want U. S. citizens to vote in U. S. primaries”, Johnson added.

Trump has publicly backed Johnson, and earlier this year he urged Greene to abstain from moving forward with her wealthy motion. The Louisiana Republican said he was doing everything possible with a second vote majority in the House.

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