Federal Judge Rejects Texas’s Attempt to Force Jack Smith’s Preservation of Records

A federal judge in Texas has rejected the state’s attempt to prevent special counsel Jack Smith from destroying records related to his prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued earlier this month, claiming that “Jack Smith’s team has conducted itself in multiple ways that suggest it cannot be blindly trusted to preserve, and eventually produce, all of its records.” He also submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for relevant documents but suggested an emergency order was needed before an anticipated December deadline for action by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued an order on Nov. 25 that said Paxton failed to show a significant or substantial risk that the DOJ would destroy the documents he requested. Kacsmaryk also dismissed as “unserious” Paxton’s concern about a truck parked outside the DOJ headquarters in Washington....