- The Washington Times - Monday, August 28, 2023

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump is calling for special counsel Jack Smith to be investigated, saying all of the charges against Mr. Trump are “intentional” and “political.”

Attorney Alina Habba, the legal spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, told Fox News on Sunday the former president’s legal troubles are only coming up now because the polls show him as the prohibitive favorite in the Republican presidential primary.

A recent poll from Yahoo News/YouGov showed that 52% of potential Republican Party voters would choose Mr. Trump as the GOP candidate if the primary vote was held now.

“We’re not concerned because we know the facts of the cases, which I can’t get into obviously for privileged reasons, but I can tell you that it’s to tie him up,” Ms. Habba said. “It’s definitely political.”

The House Judiciary Committee announced last week it launched an investigation into Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis following her indictment of Mr. Trump on criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results. The Judiciary panel questioned whether the charges from Ms. Willis, an elected Democrat, are “politically motivated.”

“I believe Jack Smith should be investigated as well,” Ms. Habba said.

Mr. Trump faces 91 criminal charges in four separate cases in Georgia, Manhattan, Florida, and Washington.

Mr. Smith indicted Mr. Trump in two federal cases related to his possession and handling of classified documents and his actions to overturn the 2020 election results.

The former president’s mugshot was taken in Georgia after he turned himself in on Thursday evening, launching a frenzy of mugshot merchandise and a boost in campaign cash for Mr. Trump, who reported raising $7 million.

Mr. Trump’s official campaign site, Win Red, has been selling merchandise donning the historic mugshot since Thursday. There were shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs and doozies for sale.

Ms. Habbas said Mr. Trump has no trouble preparing for the different trials while also running for  president.

Mr. Trump, she said, “is not your average person,” and is “incredibly intelligent.”

“You don’t have to prep much when you’ve done nothing wrong,” Ms. Habba said.

Ms. Habba said the trial dates—which are scheduled to begin in early 2024—will be moving.

“It’s unrealistic, it’s theatrics, and no judge is going to say that you can be on two trials at once in two different states, because a lot of these overlap,” Ms. Habba said. “They look at the start date of the trial, but these are four- to six-week trials at the least.”

She predicted the trials will go into October and November of 2024.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.