WASHINGTON – On Thursday, former President Donald Trump confirmed his intention: if re-elected, he would dismiss Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing legal cases against him.

“I would fire him within two seconds,” Trump stated during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Jack Smith is the lead prosecutor in two ongoing cases against Trump: one concerning attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and the other focusing on the handling of classified documents post-presidency.

During the Thursday conversation, when asked by Hewitt if he would consider pardoning himself or dismissing Smith, Trump replied that he would choose the latter.

These remarks prompted immediate backlash from some legal analysts, who argued that such a stance undermines the standard practice of maintaining the independence of the Justice Department.

“Mr. Trump has repeatedly made it apparent that he believes he is above the law,” commented Bradley P. Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security matters, to YSL News. “If he wins in November, equipped with Supreme Court precedents about immunity, he will lead as if he is above legal accountability.”

Trump has previously criticized Smith and hinted at the possibility of firing him.

Trump commented to Breitbart News in July 2023, “I wouldn’t keep him. Jack Smith? Why would I retain someone like him? He is deranged.”

Moreover, Trump expressed on Truth Social that Smith deserves imprisonment, stating, “They ought to lock up Deranged Jack Smith and his Thug Prosecutors.”

During his first term, Trump attempted to dismiss Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was looking into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, and tried to obstruct Mueller’s investigation, as detailed in Mueller’s report.

Trump has also suggested that he would use the Justice Department to prosecute adversaries for unspecified offenses.

Trump’s remarks regarding Smith have surfaced following new evidence presented against him in the election interference case last week, along with comments from his former Chief of Staff John Kelly, who told the New York Times that Trump “fits the general definition of fascist.”

Hewitt pointed out that firing Smith could lead to an impeachment inquiry, similar to the case of President Richard Nixon, who faced impeachment after he discharged special prosecutor Archibald Cox amid the Watergate scandal in October 1973.

Trump replied that he believes Congress would not move to impeach him for terminating Smith.