'Jack Smith is out of control': GOP lawmaker reacts to target letter sent to Trump

 

Welcome back to our

special breaking news coverage.

And still no comment

from the special counsel, Jack Smith.

No comment

when a CNN crew spotted him in D.C.

today and asked about the Target letter

he sent to Donald Trump.

CNN asking

whether the special counsel's office

is preparing

to indict the former

president over efforts

to overturn the 2020

presidential election

here in the United States.

Several congressional Republicans

are vowing to support Trump

despite his growing legal troubles.

Here's Texas Congressman Troy Nelson.

Listen.

Donald Trump is the leader of our party.

And Donald Trump

is going to beat Joe Biden.

In 20, 24 for a second time.

Why are they doing

everything they can to prevent him

from being on the ballot in 20, 24?

I'll tell you why.

Because Donald Trump will win in 20, 24.

And the left just they're scared

Let's bring in our

chief congressional correspondent,

Manu Raju.

He's up on Capitol Hill.

Manu, you got some colorful language

there from the congressman.

What more are you hearing from

Republican lawmakers?

The Republicans are trying to plot

exactly how to respond

to the news

that Donald Trump could potentially face

his third criminal indictment.

You've seen actions

taken already

in the other

indictments, including going

after the prosecutor

in New York over

the first Trump indictment

and then trying to ask for his testimony,

as well as seeking records

from Jack Smith himself

as part of the classified records probe.

And now there's calls

from some on the hard

right to defund the special counsel's

investigations altogether.

That includes coming from Congressman

Matt Gaetz,

who said that

you planned

to introduce a bill

to go

after the

special counsel's investigation.

And I just caught up

with Congressman Byron

Donalds, another one of Donald Trump's

prominent allies on Capitol Hill.

And he indicated that it may be time

to go

after the Justice Department's funding

when it comes time to fund

the government.

This is outrageous.

And Jack Smith is out of control.

What we are looking at

while we're dealing with appropriations

and some of the dollars

that are going to the relevant agencies

because of the Department of Justice

is going to have a two tier system

about how they choose

to investigate and prosecute them.

Maybe they don't need that much money.

Now, all of this is seen by Democrats

as a blatant way to interfere

with an ongoing criminal investigation,

tried to

go after this probe

without even

knowing any of the allegations

or evidence as outlined

by this potential indictment.

All we know is

what Donald Trump said

is that he is a target

of this investigation.

But, Wolf, even as his most prominent

allies are rushing to his defense,

many Republicans

on the Capitol, on Capitol Hill,

still saying staying silent.

Including the Senate Republican

leader, Mitch McConnell,

who just moments ago

would not answer questions about this

as he walked onto the Senate floor.

Also,

the speaker of the House

is much different

than the speaker of the House

who came out in aggressively

defended the former president

in the immediate

aftermath of this news,

just showing the divisions that continue

to persist on Capitol Hill

and within the Republican Party

over how to deal

with the former president

and these charges that could be coming

any day.

Republican lawmakers are jumping

to former President Trump's defense.

House Speaker

Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy

and other members of Congress

accused the Justice Department

of acting as a weapon for the Biden

and Biden Justice Department

and the Democrats.

CNN congressional correspondent

Lauren Fox is with us now.

So, Lauren,

this is more or less

what we've come to expect from

Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Yeah, Abbie, this news

broke yesterday

when House Republicans

were actually having a weekly conference

meeting behind closed doors,

meaning that they may not have had

all the nuances

of what exactly

was part of this target letter.

And yet

when they emerged from that meeting,

they were so quick to defend

former President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile,

this is just a latest

split screen

between House Republicans

and House Democrats

and how they're perceiving

the reality of a situation

There's little doubt

that former President Trump

was very specifically

and granularly involved in

trying to overturn

the results of the illegitimate

presidential election that he lost.

And this appears

to be the culmination of it.

And I expect Donald Trump to be indicted

in the near future. Yes, it's.

Yeah, that's my reaction.

President Trump

went up in the polls

and was actually surpassing

President Biden for reelection.

So what do they do now?

Weaponized government.

One more ridiculous thing from

the Justice Department is as wrong

as it gets.

And Republicans are vowing to use

the power of the appropriations process

to try to hold back

some funding to the Justice Department,

whether it be for a new FBI headquarters

or whether it be to the special counsel's

office investigating these matters

into former President Donald Trump.

But we should note

that there really is

a split screen between

how House Republican leadership

is dealing with this

and how Senate Republican leadership

is dealing with this.

I tried to ask Mitch

McConnell yesterday in the halls

specifically about this issue.

He did not respond to that question.

It's not abnormal

that he doesn't talk in the hallways.

But we should also note

he does not respond to questions

about former President

Donald Trump's legal woes.

You also had

John Thune, who's the Republican whip,

acknowledging the fact

that this continues to be a distraction

for the Republican Party.