Former deputy to Jack Smith announces campaign for Congress

Feb. 11 (UPI) — J.P. Cooney, a former deputy to former special counsel Jack Smith, announced he is running for Congress in Virginia on Wednesday.

Cooney served as deputy to Smith when they were prosecuting President Donald Trump over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He is running in Virginia District 7.

“I’m running for congress because never before in the history of our country has a president of the United States posed a graver threat to our democracy, our rule of law and the economic security of American families,” Cooney said in a statement. “And never before have we had a complicit Congress rubber stamp a lawless president like Donald Trump.”

Like Smith, Cooney was fired from the Justice Department after Trump assumed the office of the president last year.

Cooney was the lead prosecutor in both criminal cases against Trump by the Justice Department. One case related to the 2020 election and the other was over Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.

The firing of Cooney ended his nearly 18-year tenure in the Justice Department.

After leaving the department, Cooney formed a new law firm that targets cases of corruption.

The U.S. House seat that Cooney is campaigning for is in a new congressional district that encompasses Arlington, Va., and rural parts of the state. It was created as part of a rash of redistricting efforts last year as Republican and Democrat-led states seek to add seats for their respective parties.

Virginia lawmakers have advanced a new congressional district map that is projected to increase the edge Democrats hold in the state. A Virginia judge ruled last month that the creation of the map violates legislative rules and state Democrats have appealed the ruling.