Too bad he didn't realize it. Weekend CNN host Michael Smerconish apparently has no idea what the Department of Justice's actual policy is when it comes to prosecuting someone in the middle of a campaign. Maybe he should try reading his cohort at CNN Daniel Dale's column before he does a segment like the one above.
Trump lied about Justice Department rules, claiming that he can't be prosecuted, and Dale shot that notion down last week:
Former President Donald Trump is facing two prosecutions brought by a federal special counsel and two prosecutions brought by local district attorneys. Trump claimed on social media on Monday that all four prosecutions violate strict Justice Department rules, since he is a candidate for president, and therefore must be stopped “IMMEDIATELY.”
“The Very Strict Rules and Regulations of the Department of Injustice STATE CLEARLY that you can’t prosecute a Political Opponent, or anyone, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS/HER CAMPAIGN,” Trump wrote. He added a claim that these supposed Justice Department rules also apply to the offices of local district attorneys and state attorneys general, which he said are both “DOJ subservient ‘subsidiaries.’”
Facts First: Trump’s claims are false. There is no Justice Department rule or regulation that says a candidate can’t be prosecuted during their election campaign, as three former federal prosecutors confirmed to CNN. And even if such a federal policy did exist, Trump would be wrong to say that it applied to local district attorneys or state attorneys general. Those officials are not federal employees and not subject to the Justice Department’s policies for federal prosecutors.
No such Justice Department policy exists
There are both written and unwritten Justice Department rules that apply to federal investigations involving political candidates. None of them say anything like what Trump claimed.
“There is no rule that prohibits the Department of Justice from prosecuting a case – particularly a case that has already been indicted – during an election season,” said Mary McCord, a former federal prosecutor who served as a senior Justice Department official under President Barack Obama and during the first months of the Trump administration.
The Justice Department has a written policy that says “federal prosecutors and agents may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.” Despite Trump’s repeated claims, including one in the Monday social media post, there is no evidence that the department has deliberately timed any of its actions to harm his campaign.
That didn't stop Smerconish from whining after his viewers responded correctly to a poll he posted on Xitter, asking whether or not it was "appropriate for the DOJ to try Trump in the fall of 2024."
Here's Smerconish chastising his audience for heaven forbid not wanting to see Trump evade justice by trying to run out the clock:
SMERCONISH: OK, there it is the result so -- oh, come on. Come on, guys, ladies. Is it appropriate for DOJ to try Trump in the fall of 2024?
Nearly 40,000 have voted so far and 88 percent are saying yes. My disappointment is -- put that camera on me for a second -- it's not that lop-sided a question. It is not -- it is not a 90 percenter. Like, you're making me think that if instead the poll question today was, why don't we just dispense with the trial and move right to the sentencing phase? That would probably beget 82 percent of the audience today.
No. That's the wrong answer, at least by that margin. It's a much closer call. OK. Here's some social media that came in during the course of the program. What do we have?
Smerconish... MAGA enabler dressed up as a pretend "moderate."
