Jack Smith just took a shot in the jaw.
Smith was hoping to have access to certain phone records.
He was just told that it was not going to happen.
Blocked
Smith wanted the phone records of Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA).
The court ruled that this was a violation of the constitutional clause, “speech and debate.”
U.S. District Judge Neomi Rao stated, “While elections are political events, a member’s deliberation about whether to certify a presidential election or how to assess information relevant to legislation about federal election procedures are textbook legislative acts.
“We disagree with the district court’s holding that informal factfinding is never a legislative act.
“But we also reject Representative Perry’s proposition that informal factfinding is always a legislative act.”
The ruling basically means that Perry’s communications were a normal part of his legislative job, so they cannot be obtained by the court.
Smith is now also dealing with problems from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
Jordan is going after Smith for having flipped a Trump employee.
Jordan issued a letter to Smith that started off, “In November 2022, when your prosecutors were trying to secure the cooperation of Walt Nauta—who is alleged to have ‘move[d] boxes of documents’ at Mar-a-Lago—prosecutors, including Mr. Bratt, summoned Mr. Woodward to a meeting at the Department’s headquarters for ‘an urgent matter that they were reluctant to discuss over the phone.’”
I think we can expect a significant legal battle over this, as Smith is unlikely to give in to any demands until a court rules on it.
Source: Politico
