Trump ally Lindsey Graham sends warning to special counsel Jack Smith | US elections 2024

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham sent a threatening message to special counsel Jack Smith as Donald Trump was close to being announced as the winner of the 2024 election.

Early Wednesday morning, just moments before Trump took the stage in West Palm Beach, Florida, to deliver his victory speech, Graham posted a note on X “to Jack Smith and your team.”

“It is time to look forward to a new chapter in your legal career as these politically motivated allegations against President Trump reach their limits,” Graham wrote.

“The Supreme Court has essentially rejected your intentions, and after tonight it is clear that the American people are tired of litigation. Put an end to these cases. The American people deserve restitution.”

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 to decide whether to bring criminal charges against Trump in an investigation into his alleged misuse of national security materials and his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol should.

Smith impeached Trump last year in Florida over the storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

With the election just months away, Trump's legal team tried to delay the proceedings as much as possible.

Their case was bolstered in July when the Supreme Court granted broad immunity to former presidents and limited the scope of prosecutions.

Smith and his team laid out their case against Trump in a 165-page filing unsealed in October, arguing that Trump should not be entitled to immunity from prosecution. In the filing, federal prosecutors said Trump “resorted to crime” in his failed attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election and that he was not entitled to immunity from prosecution.

The charges brought by Smith and his team were not the only ones to anger Trump since he left office in 2021. When he takes office in January, Trump will be the first convicted criminal to win the White House and gain access to nuclear laws.

In May, Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. The sentencing was originally scheduled for September 18, but was pushed back to November 26 after Trump requested that it be postponed until after the election. It is unclear whether the date will remain.

Since Smith's case was revealed in October, Trump has spoken publicly about how he would fire Smith immediately if he were re-elected.

In a conversation with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt, who asked whether Trump would pardon himself or fire the special counsel, Trump said: “Oh, it’s so simple. It’s so simple… I would fire him in two seconds.”

Read more of the Guardian's coverage of the 2024 US election