Top investigator in Biden-era election probe wanted to tear key constitutional right away from lawmakers
- Jack Smith’s right-hand man, JP Cooney, privately trashed the Speech or Debate Clause as a 'ridiculous' obstacle to prosecution.
- Records show Cooney and fellow prosecutor Molly Gaston pushed to bypass constitutional protections meant to keep the executive branch from strong-arming lawmakers.
- Smith’s team eventually subpoenaed private records of dozens of members of Congress, sparking claims of a massive separation-of-powers violation.
- Senator Chuck Grassley slams the move as a 'disgraceful' shredding of the Constitution by a runaway partisan legal machine.
Brief Summary
Newly uncovered internal communications reveal that JP Cooney, a top deputy to Special Counsel Jack Smith, openly expressed contempt for the Speech or Debate Clause—the very constitutional protection designed to keep Congress independent from the executive branch. While Cooney publicly maintained a facade of legal propriety, his private dismissal of these protections as 'ridiculous' appears to have set the tone for a legal strategy that saw Smith’s team aggressively subpoenaing the private data and communications of numerous sitting senators and representatives.
Why This Matters
This isn't just bureaucratic posturing; it signals a fundamental shift in how the executive branch views its own power relative to elected lawmakers. When high-level prosecutors view constitutional guardrails as mere inconveniences to be dismantled, the separation of powers ceases to be a functional check and becomes a target. If the executive branch successfully establishes the precedent that it can bypass the Speech or Debate Clause to surveil members of Congress, it effectively gains the power to intimidate the legislative branch into submission, stripping away the accountability that prevents government overreach.