hey, everyone. it s 4:00 in new york. i m in for nicole wallace. special counsel jack smith is a prosecutor that stays out of the spotlight. he prefers to speak through his fiings. that s why his laltest brief in the federal election case merits our attention. over the weekend, the justice department responded to trump s claims that he is immune from prosecution. what he did was within the scope of his duties as president of the united states. it s an argument that trump was taking to the courts in order to get the whole election case dismissed. the special counsel is speaking to the court. let s be honest. he s also speaking to any of us who care about the health of our democracy. prosecutors acknowledge the fact we re dealing with an unprecedented situation. for the first time in our nation s history, a grand jury charged a former president of committing crimes while in office to overturn an election he lost. in response the defendant claims to protect the institution of th
he lost. in response the defendant claims to protect the institution of the presidecy, he must be cloaked with immunity from criminal prosecution unless the house impeached and the senate convicted him for the same conduct. he s wrong. the special counsel also suggests that more than justhe indictment of donald trump and the election is at stake here. the presidency plays a vital role in our constitutional system. so does the principle of accountabili f criminal acts. particularly, those that strike at heart of the democratic process. rather than vindicating our constitutional framework, the defendants sweeping immunity claim threaten to license prosecutes to commit crime to remain in office. if donald trump is not held accountable, prosecutors say the basic principles of our democracy are up for debate. a scheme to thwart the peaceful transfer of power is the check on executive abuses. the president colts to power by
loser. if you re convicted, all you can be is thrown out that s the limit of the penalty. but you can also be tried criminally. that says nothing about what happens if you re acquitted. and indeed, it says nothing about what happens if you re not tied in the first place. so really not just smith, but conservative judges and former officials make complete garbage of that argument. that is really going nowhere. let s talk about republicans complicity in all of this. i m thinking about mitch mcconnell saying, i didn t vote to impeach because i think it should be handled by the justice dl system. twou we find ourselves saying they didn t impeach him, so it shouldn t be hnd ha theed by the justice system is. first of all, you have mitch mcconnell and many republican leaders thing to wash their hands of this guy at some point. trying to find a way to kick him