Clarence Thomas Slams Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Nomination Over SCOTUS Immunity

In a landmark Supreme Court decision on former President Trump’s immunity, one justice questioned whether special counsel Jack Smith, who presided over Trump’s unprecedented trial, was constitutionally appointed.

On Monday, a 6-3 majority of the justices ruled that the president is entitled to substantial immunity for official actions taken in office and sent the case back to lower courts to determine which of the actions at issue in Trump’s lawsuit were official in nature.

“The president is not above the law. But Congress cannot criminalize the president’s conduct in the performance of his executive branch duties under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the framers of the Constitution always required a vigorous, independent executive branch,” the opinion said.

In a separate opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas sought to “highlight another way in which this proceeding may undermine our constitutional structure” — the appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel.

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES FORMER PRESIDENTS HAVE SIGNIFICANT PROSECUTION

“There has been much discussion in this case about ensuring that the president is ‘not above the law.’ However, as the Court explains, the president’s immunity from prosecution for his official actions Is law. The Constitution provides for a ‘vigorous executive’ because such executive power is ‘necessary to the…security of liberty,’” Thomas wrote.

“Upholding the protections that the Constitution provides for the Office of the President protects liberty. In the same vein, the Constitution also protects liberty by allocating the power to create and fill offices. And there are serious questions about whether the Attorney General violated that structure by creating the office of Special Prosecutor, which was not established by law,” Thomas said, adding that “