The Hidden Story of Jack Smith's Testimony

Jack Smith’s testimony didn’t just expose Trump’s grievances. It exposed what Trump is choosing to focus on, and what he’s refusing to do.

Jack Smith testified for the House Judiciary Committee today, in the latest chapter of the never-ending story of the “stolen 2020 election.”

While Smith was reading reality into the congressional record with his testimony, Trump was clearly feeling backed into a corner. He took to Truth Social, calling Smith a “deranged animal” and deputizing Pam Bondi to investigate him.

Smith, offered the opportunity to respond to the posts read to him in court, didn’t take the bait.

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We’ve Heard This Story Before

Trump has sicced his Justice Department on anyone and everyone who has committed even a perceived slight against him. Letitia James. James Comey. Adam Schiff. Jerome Powell. Tim Walz. Jacob Frey.

And the list keeps growing.

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Here’s What This Actually Costs

Every one of Trump’s petty crusades burns through government resources, tying up career investigators and prosecutors, and filling out court calendars with frivolous legal proceedings. This comes at the expense of real issues, real fraud, and real crimes that the government is duty-bound to protect Americans from.

But the silver lining here is that Trump’s DOJ is only matched in its vindictiveness by its incompetence in court. Because so far, every single one of his meritless prosecutions has been shut down, thrown out, or invalidated. This is the risk you run when staffing up with improperly appointed US attorneys and cable news contributors whose claims to fame are showing slavish devotion to the Godking on air.

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But It Isn’t Really About That

The Jack Smith saga is not only a story about the weaponization of the government against political enemies. (The exact thing Trump accused Democrats of doing to him, but that’s neither here nor there at this point.)

This is about what Trump’s real priorities are. This is about everything that’s not getting done while Trump directs his full attention to getting back at his enemies for hurting his feelings.

He’s got all the time in the world to prosecute his foes. To wage oil wars in South America. To threaten to invade and annex Greenland. He can host crypto dinners and encrust the Oval Office in gold and build himself a $400 million ballroom and retrofit a new jet for himself. He has time for all of that.

Which is to say, if Trump wants something done, it gets done.

But it’s always at the expense of something else. And that something is you, and all the promises Trump made to the American people to get himself elected.

Because while he’s rage-tweeting through frivolous prosecutions of his enemies, he’s not working to bring down costs, or protect earned benefits. And while he’s orchestrating the kidnapping of a world leader and watching like it’s reality TV, he’s not working to make IVF free, or curb inflation. And while he’s suing media companies and going after comedians, he’s doing nothing to end the war in Ukraine or release the Epstein files.

If he wanted to do those things, he absolutely would.

But instead he’s funneling all of the resources of the federal government - your tax dollars - into going after his enemies in a campaign of retribution that would make Stalin blush.

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This Is Not What People Voted For

We’ve got midterms this year. Right now, Republicans control the House and the Senate. This is a Republican party composed of officials who have all been willful participants in Trump’s schemes to benefit himself, enrich himself, and seek vengeance on his enemies. Like Trump, they cosplayed as populists looking to help the little guy. But their sole priority was the happiness, wealth, and satisfaction of one man.

Trump sailed into office on a wave of frustration and discontent with the way things were going and the sense people had that their government wasn’t working for average Americans.

You know who the government’s working for now? Not you.