Special counsel Jack Smith swaps partial immunity for election fraud testimony

There has also been increased interest in taking a closer look at Trump's post-election legal team

By Kelly McClure

Nights & Weekends Editor

Published June 23, 2023 4:01PM (EDT)

Special Counsel Jack Smith makes a statement from the Special Counsel office in Washington on Thursday, June 9, 2023.  (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Special Counsel Jack Smith makes a statement from the Special Counsel office in Washington on Thursday, June 9, 2023. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Pushing forward in the ongoing 2020 election probe, special counsel Jack Smith is offering partial immunity in exchange for testimony from fraudulent GOP electors willing to step forward and speak their truth.

According to exclusive reporting from CNN, the testimony from these individuals "comes after a year of relative dormancy around the fake electors portion of the investigation and as a parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay."

So far, Smith has gotten "at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity," per CNN, making headway in nailing down "some charging decisions."

Last spring, prosecutors in this case compiled information from many of the Republicans who attempted to pull one over in the Biden/Trump election and time is no longer on their side in terms of begging off a resolution.


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As CNN highlights, "It is not clear if Trump is a target in the fake electors aspect of Smith's ongoing criminal probe. But in recent months, prosecutors have pursued information about the former president's words and actions after the 2020 election, including securing court-ordered testimony from his former vice president, Mike Pence."

In addition to the bargaining for testimony, there has also been increased interest in taking a closer look at the guidance given by Trump's post-election legal team — Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and former Justice Department appointee Jeffrey Clark — all of whom are thought to have pushed the snowball of Trump's "big lie" down the hill.


By Kelly McClure

Kelly McClure is Salon's Nights and Weekends Editor covering daily news, politics and culture. Her work has also appeared in Vulture, Vanity Fair, Vice and many other outlets that don't start with the letter V. She is the author of one sad book called "Something Is Always Happening Somewhere." Follow her on Bluesky: @WolfieVibes

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Aggregate Donald Trump Election Probe Jack Smith Joe Biden Politics