Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., on Sunday suggested that one of President-elect Donald Trump’s first priorities in his new term should be to fire any staff at the Justice Department who worked on cases that involved charges against Trump.
“First and foremost, the people involved with this should be fired immediately,” Schmitt said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“And anybody part of this, this effort to keep President Trump off the ballot and to throw him in jail for the rest of his life because they didn’t like his politics, and who continue to cast him as a quote, unquote threat to democracy, was wrong, and so we’ll see where that goes,” Schmitt added.
His remarks come as special counsel Jack Smith, who was prosecuting two cases against Trump — one related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and one related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office in 2021 — plans to wind down the cases against Trump and resign before he takes office.
In the week after Trump was projected to win the election, Smith asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to hit pause on the 2020 election case. Chutkan granted the motion shortly after the request was filed.
Schmitt framed his call to fire anyone who worked on these cases as a form of “accountability,” telling moderator Kristen Welker, “[The cases] all fell apart under the weight of the law. And so I do think there needs to be accountability. I think that getting it back to crime-fighting is important, but there has to be accountability for these kinds of abuses.”
Trump repeatedly attacked the Justice Department while campaigning this year and detailed what he would expect from the department if elected.
Trump has often said he would pardon the more than 1,000 supporters who have been charged with crimes related to storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
On the campaign trail, he also indicated that he would use the Justice Department to target his political opponents, including Smith.
On his social media site Truth Social, Trump once reposted a photo of Smith with the words, “He should be prosecuted for election interference & prosecutorial misconduct.”
And after a September campaign rally, Trump wrote in a post, “WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences. Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials.”
Schmitt also said he would back former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, whom Trump said he would nominate for attorney general after his previous pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew himself from consideration.
“Oh, absolutely,” Schmitt said when asked whether he’d vote to confirm Bondi.
He added, “I intend to to help Pam Bondi get the votes. I know her well. She’s a friend. I’ve come to respect Pam Bondi. She was a great attorney general in Florida. This is a home run by President Trump.”
In an interview with CNN Sunday, Oklahoma GOP Sen. James Lankford said he wasn’t sure whether Trump would pressure Bondi to go after his political adversaries.
“I don’t think we know one way or the other,” Lankford said.
He added, “Every single U.S. attorney around the country works for them and with them. So, it is very important that we get this role right, and that they’re actually focused on diminishing crime in America and making sure we’re getting good prosecutions.”
