Trump responds to AG Garland’s appointment of special counsel, says he won’t partake

Former president Donald Trump responded on Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of a special counsel to head the investigations into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago in August by saying he will not partake in the special counsel’s investigations.

Garland revealed on Friday that the Department of Justice would be assigning Special Counsel Jack Smith to the Trump investigations following Trump’s official announcement that he is running for president in 2024.

The Attorney General said in a press briefing Trump’s POTUS bid created a conflict of interest, leading to Smith’s appointment.

Speaking from Mar-a-Lago on Friday, Trump made a statement regarding the special counsel appointment, saying it is “unfair” and claiming former presidents Obama and George W. Bush also kept classified documents after leaving the White House.

“In one case, they had it in a Chinese restaurant with broken windows,” Trump claimed at the gala. “And in another case they had a Chinese restaurant connected to a bowling alley. This is where the documents were kept. They took documents with them. President Obama took documents.”

The National Archives and Records Administration has disputed this claim, stating in August that the Obama administration had not kept any government documents.

Trump went on to claim the investigation is a “witch hunt” and questioning the fairness of the probes.

“This horrendous abuse of power is the latest in a long series of witch hunts that started a long time ago,” Trump said. “They want to do bad things to the greatest movement in the history of our country, but in particular bad things to me … This will not be a fair investigation.”

Smith’s work as Special Counsel in the probes will begin effective immediately.