Former Trump DOJ Official Defends ‘Right of Center’ Jack Smith’s Investigation: ‘He Is Not an Agent of the Deep State’

Former Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue defended Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith from Republican attacks on Tuesday, claiming Smith was politically “right of center” and “not an agent of the deep state.”

Donoghue — who served briefly in former President Donald Trump’s administration between December 2020 and January 2021 — defended Smith on NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live after Smith sent Trump a letter informing him of an investigation into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the Department of Justice against Trump ahead of the 2024 election, NewsNation host Dan Abrams asked Donoghue for his thoughts.

“Rich Donoghue, you worked in the Trump administration, you also know Jack Smith,” Abrams noted. “It sounds like leader McCarthy is basically saying Jack Smith is corrupt.”

Donoghue replied:

I think nothing could be further from the truth. For some people, Donald Trump will always be a man who was targeted because he stands up to corrupt elites, and for others he will always be Benedict Donald, a leader who puts his own interests above the country’s. Those people will never be convinced either way, but what we have to focus on are the people who have not made up their minds, and that’s what the Justice Department will do, and that’s what I think Jack Smith is doing.

Donoghue shot down suggestions that Smith is a left-wing partisan, telling Abrams, “I don’t think he’s political. He’s not left-wing, he is not an agent of the deep state. His politics would put him right of center, I believe, and look, he secured the first capital sentence in New York in more than 50 years. He’s not a bleeding heart liberal.”

After Abrams asked, “So you think it’s unfair when some on the right, or some on the far right, have been saying he’s just a tool of the left wing?” Donoghue responded, “Absolutely. I don’t believe that for a minute. I’ve known Jack for decades. I’ve seen and worked many, many cases over the years up close. I’ve seen him work incredibly hard at doing that and what he’s always done is follow the facts and apply the law.”

Smith’s letter to Trump reportedly mentioned three federal statutes: “conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under color of law, and tampering with a witness, victim or an informant.”

Trump hit out against Smith in a Truth Social post on Tuesday after revealing that he had been given “HORRIFYING NEWS” by his attorneys about Smith’s investigation a few days prior.

“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” Trump wrote.

Watch above via NewsNation.

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