CNN Legal Analyst Says It’s ‘Troubling’ How ‘Close’ Jack Smith’s Trump Case Is ‘To The Election’

CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson on Thursday expressed concern about the timing of special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case against former President Donald Trump, given how “close” it is to the November election.

Judge Tanya Chutkan is holding a hearing Thursday in the case, the first since the Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity and Smith’s recent superseding indictment against Trump, according to CNN. Jackson, on “CNN News Central,” told host Sara Sidner Trump’s lawyers are justified in objecting to the case proceeding because of the approaching election.

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“We want to always have a system that‘s looked about to be fair, to be just and to be really locked in on the issues. Now, to that point, this is locking in on the issues to the extent that you’re getting into the merits and arguments as to what’s official, what’s unofficial, immunity, et cetera,” Jackson said. “However, because of the backdrop of the election, you have to be careful. There are going to be those elements that say, ‘Whoa, what suspicious timing.’”

“And it’s interesting because it’s hard to have these discussions about law and make them strictly about law. There‘s a political element that comes into it, particularly this close to the election. So you really want to make sure the American public has confidence in doing that,” he continued. “The proximity is a little bit troubling.”