Grassley, Johnson: Garland picked Trump special counsel 'wrapped' in 'overtly political connections'

Top-ranking Republican Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley raised concerns Tuesday about the Justice Department's decision to appoint Special Counsel Jack Smith to take over two criminal probes into former President Donald Trump.

Smith, who was appointed at the end of November to head investigations into Trump related to Jan. 6 and the Mar-a-Lago raid, was previously rebuked by the Supreme Court and was linked by Congress to the IRS scandal targeting conservatives.

Johnson, the top Republican on the Senate Investigations Subcommittee, and Grassley, the top GOP senator on the Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday said they wrote a letter last week to Attorney General Merrick Garland, stating: "Instead of appointing a special counsel devoid of overtly political connections and professional connections to the very individuals that were involved in opening the criminal matters that apparently he is now directly overseeing, you chose a special counsel that is wrapped-up into both."

The senators also pointed out what they view as a hypocritical treatment of Trump versus former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 

"The kid-gloves treatment given to Secretary Clinton by the Justice Department is different than the apparent treatment given to former President Trump," the senators wrote. "The Department has failed to explain that discrepancy and that failure has cast doubt as to whether or not its actions are political in nature."

The Republicans are demanding for Garland to provide answers about whether his agency performed a conflicts of interest analysis before Smith's appointment and whether he was aware of Smith's involvement in investigating conservative groups, among other things.