WASHINGTON -
Donald Trump said Thursday that if he wins the White House, he will fire special counsel Jack Smith 鈥渨ithin two seconds鈥 of taking office.
Trump was asked during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt whether he would first pardon himself or terminate Smith to remove the legal cloud hanging over him. Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022, has charged the former president over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so easy. I would fire him within two seconds,鈥 Trump responded. 鈥淗e鈥檒l be one of the first things addressed.鈥
Trump, who regularly assails Smith and has suggested before that he would fire him if he were president, called Smith a 鈥渃rooked person.鈥
Trump, if elected, could order the Justice Department to remove Smith. Trump probably would not be able to do it on his own because Smith is not a presidential appointee.
When Trump, while president, was investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller, Trump urged his then-White House counsel, Don McGahn, to press the Justice Department to terminate Mueller. McGahn refused.
Smith has brought two federal cases against Trump. One, accusing him of illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was dismissed in July, a decision that Smith is appealing. The other, charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has been delayed by a Supreme Court opinion conferring broad immunity for official acts made while president.
After Trump said he would fire Smith, Hewitt raised the possibility that Congress could impeach Trump over that move. Trump said he did not believe that would happen.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l impeach me if I fire Jack Smith,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淛ack Smith is a scoundrel.鈥
Democrat Kamala Harris鈥檚 campaign has sought to use revelations from Smith鈥檚 investigations into Trump against the Republican candidate. They released an ad earlier this month that featured video from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and headlines from Smith鈥檚 investigation.
鈥淗e knew what he was doing,鈥 the ad shows on screen.
While Trump criticized Smith, he praised U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee who dismissed the classified documents case against the former president in July.
鈥淲e had a brave, brilliant judge in Florida,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a brilliant judge, by the way. I don鈥檛 know her. I never spoke to her. Never spoke to her. But we had a brave and very brilliant judge.鈥