Special Counsel Appointed in Trump Investigations

    Photo: AP [via The Guardian]

    The Facts

    • Following Donald Trump's re-election campaign announcement, US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday appointed a special counsel to oversee the investigations into both the Jan. 6 riots and confidential documents seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.

    • Garland appointed Jack Smith, a former federal prosecutor who currently works at The Hague, to begin "immediately." He was previously the chief of the Dept. of Justice's (DOJ) Public Integrity Section, overseeing public corruption and elections-related cases.


    The Spin

    Pro-Trump narrative

    Though it conveniently waited until after the midterm elections to do so, the liberal Washington Post has already acknowledged that the Mar-a-Lago documents weren't the dangerous nuclear codes they thought they'd be. This largely ignored finding will be the first of many similar ones as these investigations into Trump, whether through an independent counsel or not, will prove to be politically motivated shams just like all the others.

    Democratic narrative

    First and foremost, this move proves the legitimacy of these investigations. Secondly, appointing the career and nonpartisan Jack Smith was the perfect addition to an already robust probe into Trump's many nefarious activities. With Trump no longer able to cry "witch hunt," the independent investigation can now proceed unhindered.

    Nerd narrative

    There's a 48% chance that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for US President in 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


    Establishment split

    CRITICAL

    PRO

    More neutral establishment stance articles

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