Jack Smith Is About to Sign His Own Walking Papers on Trump Cases

Donald Trump might not even have to fire special counsel Jack Smith on day one—the Justice Department might do that for him.

With Trump winning the election Tuesday, Department of Justice officials now say they may give up on trying to litigate Smith’s cases against the president-elect in weeks to come, two people familiar with the situation told NBC News.

CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid also reported Wednesday that department officials and Smith himself are “looking for ways to wind this down,” meaning that both the classified documents case and the election interference case could be dead in the water.

This comes after Trump and his allies continue to threaten Smith.

“To Jack Smith and your team: It is time to look forward to a new chapter in your legal careers as these politically motivated charges against President Trump hit a wall,” wrote Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in a post on X early Wednesday.

Trump has previously not only vowed to fire Smith “within two seconds” but also threatened to deport him.

“Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged, and he should be thrown out of the country,” Trump said in late October.

Once Trump assumes office, it won’t just be Smith’s role on the chopping block. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon threatened Tuesday to make the Justice Department “pay the price for trying to destroy this country.” Trump will also have the opportunity to remake the entire department in his image.

As explained in Project 2025, a Justice Department under Trump may take on such issues as “enforc[ing] existing federal law that prohibits mailing abortifacients,” stopping people from traveling to receive abortions, scrapping Title IX protections, “aggressively deploy[ing] the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)” charges against Trump’s perceived political enemies, and “enforc[ing] the death penalty.”

To do so, Trump would appoint an attorney general to replace Merrick Garland, who would fall in line behind the strongman. Judge Aileen Cannon’s name has been thrown into the mix as just that person.

“I think he’s looking for somebody who’s totally obsequious,” said Ty Cobb, a former Trump administration lawyer. “In the Justice Department, he really wants somebody there who will do his bidding.”

Michigan voters have spurned the MAGA movement, electing Democratic Representative Elissa Slotkin to the Senate and delivering a resounding no to Republican Mike Rogers.

The Associated Press called the race for Slotkin on Wednesday, with the Democratic candidate winning by the slimmest margin of just 0.3 percent. 

With Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin’s win earlier in the day, that’s another state where Kamala Harris has lost but the Democratic candidate has prevailed.

This is another major blow to Senate Republicans in a state where they have always struggled to gain any real ground for more than 20 years. They now have 52 seats and an eight-point lead in the Senate, with four elections remaining to be called.

In a race that was a virtual tie for days, many saw vulnerabilities for Slotkin in her staunch support for AIPAC and her unpopular House vote to allow states to set limits on gas-powered transportation. But these vulnerabilities were overblown, as Slotkin was able to reaffirm Senate Democratic control of the crucial swing state.

Her Republican opponent was ultimately more hampered by his record. Rogers is one of many Republicans who was once deeply critical of Trump, but today has dutifully fallen in line. The day after January 6, 2021, Rogers stated plainly that Trump’s “chaotic leadership style” and his actions “clearly” sparked the insurrection. In 2024, Rogers had nothing but praise for the former president, noting that his scathing past remarks are just “differences” that he could work past.

This switch-up proved damning for Rogers, as voters soured on him after multiple shameless attempts to cozy up to Trump. The worst of them came when Rogers defended the former president after he said that “the whole country would end up like Detroit” if Harris won the presidency.

Instead of rebuking Trump, Rogers backed him up, saying that, “If you live on the streets of Detroit, you know crime is not better.” Slotkin seized on this moment of betrayal, stating, “Do you see how scared he is of Donald Trump to even split with him on defending the biggest city in your state? It’s sad.” 

Slotkin’s victory allows Democrats to breathe a sigh of relief in Michigan.

Donald Trump’s MAGA fan base has been celebrating since his reelection was confirmed Wednesday, with the trolls out in full force.

Several posters on right-wing social media platforms are jubilant, Wired reports, with many speaking openly of taking revenge against liberals and other enemies of Trump.  One such post read, “There has to be as many traitors executed as he has days in office. Build the gallows, restore the REPUBLIC.”

Other posts include references to using military tribunals and executions, as well as armed raids, with one post saying, “New DOJ must utilize armed raids on Democrat Deep State Homes! Drag their asses out into the street, just like they did to our people!!” Another viral meme had the caption, “RELEASE THE PROJECT 2025 HANDMAIDS TALE RAPE SQUADS.”

“Groyper” founder and influencer Nick Fuentes, a proud white nationalist who infamously had dinner with Trump in 2022, openly mocked women and supporters of reproductive rights on Tuesday night.

Other racists and white nationalists also openly expressed their glee. Christopher Pohlhaus, the leader of neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, who infamously helped fuel false stories about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, posted, “Thanks Trump.” 

“Cheaper gas will make it easier to spread White Power across the whole country,” he added. 

It seems that far from losing his racist base from years past, as some reports had indicated, Trump actually still has them in his corner. Perhaps it was his Nazi-esque rally in Madison Square Garden days before the election that brought them back. Right-wing influencer and Turning Point USA “ambassador” Evan Kilgore made a trolling post on X early Wednesday morning that seems to sum it all up. 

Project 2025 has begun. And Donald Trump’s allies are now openly celebrating it.

“Now that the election is over I think we can finally say that yeah actually Project 2025 is the agenda,” wrote conservative commentator Matt Walsh on Wednesday morning, adding “Lol” for good measure.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was recently released from prison, responded on his live War Room podcast with one word: “Fabulous.”

Later during the livestream, Bannon could be seen holding a hard copy of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 “Mandate For Leadership” up to the camera in celebration. On election night, Bannon had vowed to eliminate Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, MSNBC, and the Justice Department in an unhinged rant.

“Now, you’re going to pay the price,” he said Tuesday night.

During the campaign, Trump tried to distance himself from Project 2025, even claiming that he “NEVER READ IT, NEVER SAW IT,” despite his many ties to the sprawling list of co-authors.

Meanwhile, the key author of Project 2025 celebrated Trump’s victory in a statement Tuesday night.

“President Trump has achieved a historic and hard-fought victory: overcoming four sham indictments, surviving two assassination attempts, and overcoming an unprecedented mid-race candidate swap to become the first president since Grover Cleveland to win two nonconsecutive terms,” wrote Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts.

Tammy Baldwin has emerged victorious from the most hard-fought campaign of her political career.

The Democratic incumbent defeated Republican challenger and former businessman Eric Hovde to retake her Senate seat. The Associated Press called the race for Baldwin early Wednesday morning, with the Democrat eking out a win by a margin of just 0.7 percent, and 99 percent of votes reported.

This is a sorely needed win for Democrats. Republicans hold a 10-seat majority in the chamber, with six races remaining to be called. Donald Trump has already won the presidency, so every seat Democrats win in Congress matters.

Baldwin and Hovde clashed over a number of voting issues, including immigration, the Middle East, Ukraine, and particularly abortion. Hovde falsely accused Baldwin of being pro-choice “up to the point of delivery, where a healthy baby can be born alive and be terminated.” He also constantly drew attention to the fact that Baldwin is gay, referring to “Tammy Baldwin and her girlfriend” multiple times. One ad Hovde’s campaign ran stated that “while [Tammy Baldwin] sleeps in her girlfriend’s million-dollar condo in New York City, Wisconsin families are getting hammered by high inflation and handouts for illegal immigrants. Tammy and her girlfriend are living large while Wisconsin families foot the bill.”

This line of attack certainly hurt Hovde more than it helped. He was also hampered by very fair accusations of carpetbagging from Baldwin, as the Republican ran in Wisconsin but owns a bank in Utah and a lavish mansion in Orange County, California.

The victory allows Wisconsin Democrats to exhale, and turn their attention to the months ahead.