The White House communications director lashed out at former special counsel Jack Smith on Monday after images surfaced of Smith wearing a “No Kings” T-shirt at a Maryland concert.
Steven Cheung fired back on X after photographs and video showed Smith, 57, at Saturday’s “Power to the People” show at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. The longtime prosecutor was seen nursing a beer and wearing a Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band shirt as he made his way to his seat.
“Jack Smith is a scumbag who was the partisan attack rat for Democrats who weaponized the justice system against President Trump for political purposes,” Cheung wrote on X. “Don’t think they won’t go after innocent Americans again if they get their way.”
The concert featured Springsteen, the Foo Fighters, Public Enemy, Dave Matthews, and Joan Baez among other artists. Smith’s attendance came just days after he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his work on the cases against the president.
Smith appeared before the panel last week to discuss the “Arctic Frost” FBI probe that led to his indictment of Trump for attempting to reverse the 2020 election results and for hoarding national security documents at Mar-a-Lago. The former special counsel has consistently rejected accusations of political motivation.
“I am not a politician and I have no partisan loyalty,” Smith said in his opening remarks to the committee. “My career has been dedicated to serving our country by upholding the rule of law and the core principles upon which our country was founded.”
The “No Kings” slogan on Smith’s shirt has become associated with protests against executive overreach and has gained traction among critics of the Trump administration. The timing of his wardrobe choice drew immediate attention given his recent high-profile testimony and the ongoing political fallout from his cases against the president.
Smith brought two criminal cases against Trump ahead of the 2024 election, both of which were ultimately dropped after Trump’s victory. The special counsel role made him a frequent target of the president’s allies, who accused him of conducting a politically motivated prosecution.
Cheung’s broadside on Monday marked the latest salvo from the White House against figures involved in the various legal proceedings against Trump. The communications director has been a vocal defender of the president on social media since taking his post.
The “Power to the People” event was part of a series of concerts organized around political themes, with Springsteen and the E-Street Band serving as headliners. The Maryland venue has long hosted politically charged performances and benefit shows.
Smith has largely maintained a low public profile since concluding his work as special counsel, making his visible attendance at the concert and his choice of attire all the more notable. His testimony last week represented a rare return to the spotlight for the career prosecutor.
The former special counsel’s cases against Trump included charges related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack and the classified documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago. Both cases were dismissed following Trump’s election win, with Smith moving to drop the charges in accordance with Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
Smith’s Senate appearance last week focused on the origins and conduct of the investigation that led to the charges, with Republicans on the committee pressing him on allegations of political bias.