Former President Donald Trump attacked special counsel Jack Smith after his unsealed indictment showed the former commander in chief was charged with 37 felony counts over his handling of classified documents, calling him a “deranged lunatic.”
Posting a photo of Smith on his Truth Social app, Trump accused the prosecutor of being behind a 2013 controversy in which it was revealed that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was targeting political groups, mainly the on the right, to increase the audit.
“This is the man who caused the Lois Lerner disaster with the IRS. He went after evangelicals and great Americans of faith. America had to apologize and pay huge damages for what this man did deranged lunatic,” Trump wrote.
EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SAYS INDICTMENT IS ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL’
Former President Donald Trump was criminally indicted Thursday night. (Drew Anger/Getty Images)
Lerner was a central figure in the IRS scandal, with lawmakers voting to hold her in contempt of Congress for what they said was insufficient testimony on the matter in 2014.
In his attack on Smith, Trump also cited the corruption case of former Republican governor of Virginia Robert McDonnell. Smith successfully won his conviction, although it was later overturned by the Supreme Court.
TRUMP, LAWYERS SEPARATE AFTER FEDERAL INDICTMENT
Special Counsel Jack Smith urged Americans to read the indictment against Trump. (Screenshot from Fox News/AP Photo)
“He had a unanimous loss at the Supreme Court. His wife is a Trump-hater, just like he is a Trump-hater: a deranged ‘psycho’ who should not be involved in any case involving to do with “Justice,” other than seeing Biden as a criminal, which he is!” Trump wrote.
Trump was indicted for mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice. His aide Walt Nauta was also charged with six counts of obstruction and concealment.
TRUMP FACED ON FEDERAL CHARGES RELATED TO DOCUMENT HANDLING AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
Lois Lerner, who headed the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups, apologized for the targeting scandal and eventually resigned. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The former president has said he is not guilty of any wrongdoing and has denounced this and other investigations into his conduct as a partisan witch hunt.
Smith appeared before the cameras on Friday afternoon, noting the “seriousness” of the crimes.
“An indictment was unsealed today, charging Donald J. Trump with criminal violations of our national security laws and engaging in a conspiracy to obstruct justice,” Smith said. “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.”
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for Fox News Digital.
