'Simply staggering': Eyes widen as Jack Smith blows the whistle on 'American Gestapo'

Former special counsel Jack Smith stunned online viewers by revealing how he prepared for prosecution by the Trump administration.

During an appearance on MS NOW, Smith spoke about hiring lawyers when he left his job as a federal prosecutor because he led two criminal investigations into Donald Trump, including for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the discovery of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

"I resigned as special counsel. I know I need to get a lawyer because the president has said he wants to jail me for doing my job," Jack Smith explained. "And so I retain lawyers, as soon as that becomes public, the president and the Justice Department target that law firm."

Online, viewers reacted to Smith's account of how his fears about the Trump administration came true. Veteran political scientist Norman Ornstein responded by describing the administration as "American Gestapo" in a post on X.

"The retribution is simply staggering," wrote civil rights lawyer Leslie Proll.

"We are in such high cotton here," reacted columnist Sophia A. Nelson. "And nobody in power who can stop him or his minions gives a d—."

"What a refreshing example of an honest, moral and non political American hero," architect and political activist Mike Kihn wrote about Jack Smith. "He will not give in to Trump's attempt to intimidate because, like a legal first responder, he will run to danger, personal or otherwise, not away from it."

"Now listen to the women who testified under oath that Trump r— them," posted journalist Robert Young Pelton. "Or listen to the testimony of those who spoke out from inside the Trump administration, like Miles Taylor."