Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has delivered a stark warning about the dangers facing the rule of law in the United States, according to legal experts who learned of his remarks during a rare public appearance.
Legal analyst Allison Gill, known online as Mueller, She Wrote, reported that Smith recently spoke at George Mason University, where he raised alarms about how the Justice Department was “weaponized” under Donald Trump’s administration. Gill explained that she learned the details from former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was in the audience.
Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022, is overseeing the investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the January 6th Capitol attack, and the alleged unlawful retention of classified documents.
During his remarks, he reportedly said that the rule of law is “under attack in a way that he hasn’t seen in his lifetime.” According to Gill, Smith expressed deep concern about the dismissal of career public servants and the Justice Department’s use of power to target citizens for exercising their constitutional rights.
He also lamented the growing loss of credibility with both the courts and the American people. “The DOJ was my home for many, many years. That home is now on fire,” Smith said, as relayed by Gill.
Smith also described what he believes a society without the rule of law resembles: one where critics and perceived enemies are silenced, prosecutors are expected to build cases without legal foundations, and political allies of those in power escape accountability.
He reportedly issued a specific warning about the risks faced by minority communities in such an environment. “In a society where the rule of law is eroding, you can have a situation where if you’re a Latino citizen… You can be stopped, detained, and your liberty taken because of the color of your skin. Or maybe because you were speaking Spanish… whereas we all know that if you were white, that would never happen.”
Gill noted that Smith’s remarks echoed concerns she and McCabe have often raised on their UnJustified podcast, including what she calls the “destruction of the presumption of regularity” within the Justice Department. For Smith, the warning was not just theoretical but personal. As someone who spent years inside the DOJ, he suggested its very foundation is at risk.