Former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker slammed special counsel Jack Smith following the superseding indictment filed this week which included three additional charges filed against former President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Fox News on Saturday, Whitaker argued that with this latest round of charges, Smith was being “petty” and “vindictive” and that he was just trying to “punish Donald Trump.” Originally Trump was indicted on 37 counts all of which were connected to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House.
The three new counts that were filed specifically refer to attempts made by Trump’s aides to have the security footage deleted after the classified documents were moved around the property. Whitaker pointed out that these latest charges are not actually adding anything significant to this case other than a new defendant in the case that Trump does end up being convicted.
Trump’s aide Walt Nauta was previously the only associate of Trump to have been indicted in the Mar-a-Lago, but with the additional charges Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager is also named as a defendant.
Smith is also handling the case relating to Trump’s attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election and his role in Jan. 6, 2021. On Thursday, Trump’s lawyers and special counsel Smith held a meeting to discuss the investigation. The Department of Justice sent Trump a target letter last week relating to this case. This has led many to believe that he will soon be indicted in this case.
