Jack Smith
đ€ SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
assistant district attorney in Manhattan, I thought that's what you were taught at the Manhattan DA's office. When I got to the Eastern District of New York, I was like, wow, that's the same philosophy here. We do it the same way.
When I got to the ICC and what I tried to imbue on the people in my office when I was running the last office overseas was those same sort of principles. And what I found is that public servants who want to be good public servants, wherever they are, that those are really guiding principles. If you do those three things, do the right thing, do it the right way and do it for the right reasons, if you're hitting those marks, you're going to be okay as a prosecutor.
How, if at all, does their political views or even their party affiliation factor in or not factor in to your decision about who you would bring on? Most of the people who ended up working on this investigation from the beginning to the end, when I was special counsel, were people who were already actually working on the investigations when I took over. They were working on the separate cases.
I did bring in a few people to assist. Those people I brought in were all former, longtime former federal prosecutors who had worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations over and over again. And one of the topics I really like to talk with folks about, because I don't think it's talked about enough, is the just incredible high level of integrity and competence and willingness to sacrifice to the people
who do this work. And I'm talking about the people I worked with in the special counsel's office. But the Department of Justice in the US, the FBI, are filled with people like this. And these are people who are not self-promoters. They do not like to tell their own story. They cannot start a sentence with I, they start that with we. These are team players who don't want anything but to do good in the world.
They're not interested in politics. And I get very concerned when I see how easy it is to demonize these people for political ends, when these are the very sort of people I think we should be celebrating. The people on my special counsel team were like that. The idea that politics played a role in who worked on that case or who got chosen is ludicrous. And Andrew, you know, and this is another thing that I think if you're not inside the US Department of Justice,
Ajatus, ettÀ poliitikassa olisi rooli tÀllaisissa isoissa tapauksissa, on tÀysin luonnollista, ja se on tÀysin samaa mieltÀ kuin minun kokemukseni hallituksessa. Silloin, kun olin yliopistoprosessi, kun aloitin, jos olisin kertonut kaverini DA-yhteyksessÀ, ettÀ minulla on tÀmÀ tapaukset, ja minÀ olisin saanut sen, mutta minÀ vain löysin tietoa, ettÀ kaveri on DA-yhteyksessÀ ystÀvÀ, joten ehkÀ voimme löytÀÀ tavoitteen, etten saa sen.
Tai jos sanoisin, etten saanut tÀtÀ tapauksia, koska se ei ole legitiivinen tapauksessa.
but I saw that he was an enemy of the DA and maybe we shouldn't bring it. My boss, my first boss, he would toss me out a window, right? Toss me out a window. When I was the chief of the public integrity section, we were doing the highest profile corruption cases around the country. I had no idea of the politics of people who worked for me because it was entirely irrelevant to our work. And that was the same when I was in Brooklyn, New York. It was the same when I was in Tennessee.
It's one of those things that I think sometimes you hear what's in the news. If you talk to anybody in the department who's been there for decades, that's just not even close to what that work is like. And I don't think that there's enough people out there saying that because the people who do that, they don't want to be out front talking about those things, putting themselves sort of in the limelight. They just want to do good work. And so the people on my team,
TÀssÀ on kaksi asiaa. Yksi on se, mitÀ haluaisin kertoa, mitÀ sanoit, ettÀ jotkut ihmiset kritisoivat asioita. MielestÀni yksi asia, joka kuitenkin kertoo paljon ajatuksiani nÀistÀ asioista, on se idea, ettÀ ihmiset kritisoivat asioita, erityisesti mediassa. Jos olet hyvÀ hallitusjohtaja, se on ÀÀniÀ, ja sinun tÀytyy tunnistaa sitÀ. MielestÀni mediassa ihmiset voivat tehdÀ hyvin hyvÀn julkisen palvelun,
jÀrjestelmÀÀn, mitÀ tapahtuu jÀrjestelmÀssÀ, jÀrjestelmÀÀn jÀrjestelmiÀ, jotka ovat kompleksia. Mutta kun pÀÀsemme asiaan, ettÀ ihmiset pitÀisivÀt tehdÀ tÀmÀ tai sellaista, hyvÀt jÀrjestelmÀt oppivat tunnistamaan sitÀ. TiedÀn, ettÀ kun olen tehnyt ison asian, niin mitÀ tahansa minÀ teen, jotkut ajattelevat, ettÀ olen viljelmÀ, ja jotkut ajattelevat, ettÀ olen hero. Jotkut ajattelevat, ettÀ olen hieno, ja jotkut ajattelevat, ettÀ pysyn.
Silloin sinun tÀytyy tunnistaa sitÀ. Jokaisesta, mitÀ mediassa tapahtui, en tiedÀ, koska se ei ole asiaa, jonka minÀ seuraan. Oikeassa tapauksessa oli hyvin tÀrkeÀÀ minulle, ettÀ teemme kaikki työssÀmme kirjassa, ja se tarkoittaa sitÀ samalla tavalla kuin DOJ-kirjassa.
a case of this much public interest. And under that way of thinking, the place to venue this case was in Florida. There were arguments you could venue parts of it other places, certainly. And there are times that the DOJ venue has pieces of cases in different places, but the usual way is to have it in one place. And in this particular case,
The documents were in Florida. The major acts of obstruction, the two series of obstruction that we charged in the case happened in Florida. And I would also just, at the last point I would just add is we didn't have the immunity decision that came later. But if we had, by charging it in Florida, all the conduct that we charged was after the presidency. So the idea that any of this will be official acts would be a lot less than it otherwise would have been if we had charged things that had happened in Washington, D.C. beforehand.
There's another powerful moment at about an hour and five into this Q&A session. Play this clip. You do not want to be saying things before trial that are going to make it hard for the defendant to get a fair trial, right? You don't want to be sort of polluting the jury pool in your favor, saying things that they... Because the usual case is a case where the government has a lot of power and has a megaphone, and the defendant most often doesn't.
TÀllaisia sÀÀntöjÀ, sellainen tapa tehdÀ asioita, on ollut hallituksen traditio. Ja todennÀköisesti, paljon paikallisia sÀÀntöjÀ, joita kÀytÀmme, kertovat, ettÀ voidaan sanoa, mitÀ voidaan sanoa hallituksessa. Siksi minun roolissani yksityiskohtaisen hallituksen jÀrjestÀjÀnÀ, minÀ kÀsittelin asioita hyvin niin kuin minÀ tein koko ajan. Me usein sanotaan, ettÀ puhutaan hallituksen kohdalla, eikÀ kohdassa. Ja sillÀ tavalla tein asioita.
Luulen, ettÀ se on arvaavaa keskustelua tulevaisuudessa siitÀ, miten me muutamme asioita, miten me kÀsittelemme asioita ja miten me ajattelemme nÀitÀ asioita. En nyt vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ
Olemme nyt erilaisessa elÀmÀssÀ, kun kommunikoimme erilaisena erilaisena. Archibald Coxin asia, jos ette ole kaikki nÀhneet sen, se on arvaava, kun menet kotiin tÀnÀÀn, ettei sinulla ole mitÀÀn tehtÀvÀÀ yli puoli tuntia YouTubella. Se on taiteellista, se on kÀrsivÀltÀ, hÀnen yksityisyyttÀnsÀ on vain hienoa. Se on myös todella vaikeaa tehdÀ.
Varsinkin, koska tehdÀ sitÀ, ettei arvioida, ettei sinÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ vÀlttÀmÀttÀ, on todella vaikeaa. On erityisiÀ tilanteita, joissa voit tehdÀ sitÀ, mutta tÀmÀ menee takaisin aiemmin, ettÀ jos haluat olla ymmÀrrettÀvÀ meidÀn hallituksen instituutioissa, haluat, ettÀ on ymmÀrrys ympÀristöjen ja hallituksen vÀlillÀ.