GOP 'set for embarrassment' as Jack Smith threatens to blow up Congress hearing: analyst
The Republican Party could be setting themselves up for an embarrassing fall with a big assumption over Jack Smith's testimony.
The former special counsel member is set to publicly testify before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. Smith is expected to speak on his decision to prosecute Donald Trump on a series of federal crimes in 2023.
While the GOP may be hoping Smith does not say anything new in his testimony, they could be in for a surprise, according to political commentator Hayes Brown.
Writing on MSNOW, Hayes believes the Republican Party will find themselves shifting rapidly should Smith not fall in line with how Robert Mueller presented his testimony.
Hayes wrote, "But if the GOP is banking on Smith following Mueller’s lead and simply pointing back to his report, they’re setting themselves up for embarrassment. If anything, the MAGA loyalists have given Smith a chance to highlight the yawning gulf between the story they tell about the 2020 election and the truth."
The GOP may have bitten off more than they can chew with Smith's testimony, as Hayes suggested the successful indictments the prosecutor had managed against Trump is a difference maker.
Hayes wrote, "Mueller had ultimately decided that he had no jurisdiction to indict a sitting president and had told reporters that if asked to testify before Congress, 'any testimony from this office would not go beyond our report. It contains our findings and analysis, and the reasons for the decisions we made.'
"Without the ability to carry forward a prosecution, as he told frustrated House Democrats, he couldn’t in good conscience present a case against Trump. Nor would Mueller 'totally exonerate' Trump as the president claimed the report had done.
"Smith, by contrast, successfully obtained multiple indictments against Trump. As he said in his closed-door deposition before the Judiciary Committee last month, his office 'believed that we had proof beyond a reasonable doubt for all the charges and that we would have gotten convictions at trial.'
"And based on the transcript and video from that deposition, the committee’s Democrats will be more than happy to help Smith lay out the case that Trump successfully managed to delay long enough to get re-elected."