Jack Smith and Donald Trump (AFP)
A last-ditch effort to temporarily block special counsel Jack Smith from destroying records generated by his investigation into President-elect Donald Trump was thrown out by a Trump-appointed federal judge who called the claims “unserious.”
In an order denying Freedom of Information Act claims raised by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk ruled Monday that the state failed to prove a “substantial” or “significant” risk that Smith’s team at the Department of Justice would destroy the documents at issue.
“Plaintiffs warrant no emergency relief here,” Kacsmaryk wrote in the ruling. “Plaintiffs conclude that while ‘defendants claim they are committed to preserving records, the public sees a truck seemingly ready to destroy them.’ This claim is unserious. Defendants could shred paper for many legitimate reasons, and plaintiffs have proffered nothing to suggest more nefarious intentions.”
The Washington Post reported that requests like Paxton’s “can be a routine first step in congressional inquiries, law enforcement investigations and litigation.”
“Three days after Trump was elected president, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia) asked Smith’s office to preserve all records of his classified documents and election interference probes, an early sign that they were planning to investigate his work,” according to the publication.
Paxton, the conservative state’s three-term attorney general and a staunch Trump ally, filed his complaint in the Northern District of Texas Amarillo division, overseen by Kacsmaryk, on Nov. 11, court records show.
But the Justice Department opposed Paxton’s efforts, calling his pursuit an “extraordinary request” that “has no basis in fact or law.”
“Plaintiffs have no evidence whatsoever to back up that meritless accusation,” the Justice Department said in a Nov. 18 filing. “The Department of Justice is preserving records from the Special Counsel’s Office in the ordinary course pursuant to the relevant federal records schedule.”
Smith filed a legal motion earlier this week to dismiss Trump’s federal case now that he is returning back to the White House.
