Does Trump’s Inauguration Mean the End of Special Counsels? And What Is Matt Gaetz Up to, Anyway?

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President-elect Donald Trump has promised to fire Special Counsel Jack Smith and his entire team within “two seconds” of his inauguration. 

On Thursday morning, conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Trump whether he plans to pardon himself or fire Smith on the day he would take the oath of office.

“It’s so easy — I would fire him within two seconds,” said Trump, who added that he got “immunity at the Supreme Court” and called Smith a “crooked person.”

He’s also hinted that he may use his own Special Counsel to examine the 2020 election, which the media continuously insists was as pure as the driven snow.

MOLLIE LINE: The Washington Post reports that president-elect Trump plans to fire the entire team that worked under special counsel Jack Smith at the Justice Department. Those DOJ employees worked on two federal prosecutions against the incoming president. The report adds that Trump is planning to assemble teams within the department to investigate alleged fraud in the 2020 election. Let’s work on unpacking some of this, as we move forward. More on the president-elect Trump’s plans for the justice department in particular.

We are joined by former federal prosecutor Andrew Cherkasky. Thank you so much for giving us a little time on this Saturday afternoon, Andrew. We greatly appreciate it. Kicking things off with just the the first start. The idea that an entire team might be fired.

Now it’s not unusual for an incoming president, incoming administration, to bring in new people, new teams, particularly when legal concerns are made, AGs all across the nation. Your thoughts on this particular headline? 

ANDREW CHERKASKY: Well, when you look at the people who worked under Jack Smith, you have to think about the credibility of the actions that they brought. First, we have an election that just strongly communicated that the American public, vehemently disagrees with what Jack Smith had done over the last 4 years. But then you have to look at the fact that these, attorneys working under Jack Smith were pushing a novel legal issue that failed at almost every turn to include as it, went up to the Supreme Court.

So if those are the attorneys that were working there, does Donald Trump really want those attorneys to continue in the DOJ? And so I think it’s absolutely appropriate to be thinking about and talking about the idea that those folks may be well suited to leave the DOJ. We’re not talking criminal prosecutions of those folks, but I think the idea of seeing them out the door, is probably wise. 

MOLLIE LINE: And now shifting gears just a little bit, to the, AG pick, Pam Bondi. This is a big pick, a Trump loyalist, someone that he has a lot of confidence in as one would expect, but there’s also some criticism coming down.

Here’s, Elie Honig. He is the former assistant US attorney out of the southern district of New York talking about Bondi’s pick. 

CNN VIDEO: There’s nothing wrong or unusual with an attorney general who shares the same politics and ideology as the president. That’s the way these things work. But I think the big problem with Pam Bondi is she was a vocal 2020 election denier, and I think that raises legitimate questions about her independence and her credibility, and I expect that to be a sticking point when she goes in front of the senate.

MOLLIE LINE: So he’s sitting on something that is also covered in that Washington Post article about president Trump looking back at the 2020 election and seeking answers. Your thought on the her on the president picking Bondi and what also his on hi focus potentially on looking back at that 2020 election. 

ANDREW CHERKASKY: Well, Pam Bondi gives president Trump really everything that he was hoping to get from Matt Gaetz plus much more. Her credibility as a very effective, AG in the state of Florida, which has particularly MAGA type, politics, and she’s proven herself effective. Matt Gaetz had not run a similar office. 

So I think that she really is a, a stronger pick to be able to perpetuate the policies and the ideas that Donald Trump has for the DOJ. As for the criticism of her, I mean, if you wanna go back and continue to…

MOLLIE LINE: Oh, Andrew, I’m I’m so sorry. We are running out of time. I have to wrap this a a little bit quicker than I expected. But, Andrew Cherkasky, thank you so much, for coming on. I really appreciate it. Really appreciate you sharing your insights with us.

Curiously, there is a growing rumor that Matt Gaetz might just be the guy Trump has in mind to act as his Special Counsel, whether for the 2020 election or, more deliciously, to look into the actions of Merrick Garland’s house of political thugs.

In my view, Gaetz’s nomination to be Attorney General was a long shot. The multiple ethics probes against him and the FBI criminal investigation were obviously going to become public and make it very difficult for at least four Republican senators to vote for him. As he announced his withdrawal from consideration, he had this message:

Hmmm….wonder what that means? “In the fight,” but from a “new perch.”

Then there was this:

This interaction was between Gaetz and a major MAGA X, formerly Twitter, account.

Gaetz has also made Congressional stock trading an issue. He even joined forces with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to sponsor legislation forbidding the use of inside information. Might this be the target?

And no MAGA political shenanigans would be complete without Roger Stone.

Obviously, none of this may mean anything. Gaetz may quietly leave Congress and the media spotlight and move back to Florida and do something unexciting and low-profile. On the other hand, appointing Gaetz as special counsel to investigate the true purpose of Jack Smith’s investigation and its coordination with Trump enemies in Georgia and New York, or the activities in the Department of Justice, or malfeasance on Capitol Hill and using Jack Smith’s own arguments to defend his activities would be the ultimate trolling of the NeverTrump lawfare scam.