Steve Benen reports for MSNBC that Rep. Elise Stefanik is keeping up her full-throated defense of former President Donald Trump, but is so far mum on his dinner with a leading figure among white supremacists and anti-semites. After Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith to oversee the criminal investigations into Trump, the former president ordered his backers to defend him saying, “You people have to fight. You have to fight. You have to be strong.” So on Nov. 29 Stefanik told the far-right Breitbart News that, “The facts are clear: Jack Smith is compromised.... Joe Biden’s weaponized DOJ has launched an illegitimate special counsel to investigate his number one political opponent.” She said when Republicans take over the House of Representatives in January, they will launch a counter-investigation, although she did not say exactly what they would investigate. Meanwhile Stefanik is quiet so far on Trump's dinner meeting with notorious anti-Semites Kanye West and Nick Fuentes. PBS News Hour asked 57 Republican lawmakers for comment on that meeting, and Stefanik is one of many not responding with any comment about the former president meeting with fringe political figures with hateful political views. Stefanik represents the 21st Congressional District in New York that includes Rensselaer County. Read more about this story at the MSNBC website.