House Republicans have issued a letter to special counsel Jack Smith demanding the preservation of records related to his prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump. They are requesting documents and messages regarding meetings between the FBI, DOJ officials, and Smith’s office before a search warrant was executed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in 2023. Additionally, they are seeking documents related to the hiring of staff and communications between Smith’s office, the attorney general’s office, and the deputy attorney general’s office.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has expressed concerns about the potential purging of relevant records by the Office of Special Counsel and has set a deadline of Nov. 24 for Smith’s team to comply with the request. The letter serves as a formal request to preserve all records and materials related to Smith’s cases against Trump and instructs the office to prevent the destruction or alteration of records and communications.
The DOJ appears to be winding down the Trump cases following his election victory, citing a policy not to prosecute presidents. Meanwhile, Smith has requested a federal judge to put pretrial proceedings on hold in Trump’s election-related case, which the judge has approved due to the “unprecedented circumstances” surrounding the case targeting the president-elect.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the Smith cases and has criticized the special counsel for alleged partisan behavior. Calls from top Republicans and former Attorney General Bill Barr to end the prosecutions of Trump have been made. Trump still faces sentencing in New York City on falsifying business records charges and election-related charges in Fulton County, Georgia.
Republicans in Congress have also sought records from the Fulton County district attorney’s office, with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade testifying before a House panel about his involvement in the case. Please rewrite this sentence.
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