Trump says he'd fire Special Counsel Jack Smith if elected president

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday that if elected he would fire the federal prosecutor leading the criminal probes into his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

Former President Trump, asked during an interview whether he would pardon himself or fire Special Counsel Jack Smith, said: "It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds."

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 appointed Smith to the special counsel role, one meant to give him independence in leading the politically charged investigations into Trump.

Firing Smith would end the two cases almost immediately.

Asked if he believed lawmakers would move to file impeachment charges against him if he fired Smith, Trump said, "No, I don't think they would impeach me if I fired Jack Smith." He was speaking with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt.

The decision of whether to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump would lie with the party that wins control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the Nov. 5 election.

Should Republicans succeed in protecting their narrow majority, they would have no incentive to impeach Trump. It may be a different story if Democrats win control of the chamber, given they already twice secured impeachment votes against him during his first term in office.

Both times Senate Republicans provided the votes Trump needed to remain in office.

One of the two cases led by Smith has already run into trouble. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, in July dismissed the case charging the former president with illegally holding onto classified documents after leaving office.

She ruled that Smith had been improperly appointed, a decision that he is currently appealing.

The other case, charging Trump with illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat, has been slowed dramatically by a July U.S. Supreme Court ruling that as a former president Trump has broad immunity for official actions while in office.

Trump has denied the charges in both cases.

Trump also faces two state prosecutions not linked to Smith. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month in New York, where he was convicted of trying to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.

He also faces an ongoing state prosecution in Georgia related to his alleged attempt to overturn his 2020 loss in that state, a charge that he denies.

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; editing by Rami Ayyub and Deepa Babington)