Jack Smith resigns from Justice Department
Jack Smith, the special counsel who led two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, has resigned from the Justice Department before the president-elect takes office later this month.
Mr. Smith “separated from the department” on Friday, according to a court filing submitted Saturday.
CBS News, the BBC’s American media partner, Reported in November That Smith would resign from the Justice Department after completing his job.
Mr Smith’s departure comes amid controversy over the release of his report on the findings in Trump’s classified documents case.
Mr Smith was appointed as special counsel in 2022 to oversee two Trump Justice Department cases – one on the alleged improper hoarding of classified documents and the other on an alleged attempt to interfere in the 2020 election results.
Both cases brought criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty and sought to characterize the prosecution as politically motivated.
Mr Smith’s cases against the president-elect were dropped last year after Trump’s presidential election victory. Prosecutors wrote that Justice Department rules prevent prosecuting a sitting president.
CBS reported in November that Mr. Smith’s resignation was expected because it would allow him to leave his post without being removed by Trump or the incoming president’s attorney general.
His exit means he left without seeing any of Trump’s criminal trials go to trial.
Earlier this week, US District Judge Eileen Cannon – who oversaw the classified documents case and controversially dismissed it last July – temporarily barred Mr. Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland blocked reports about the case from being “released, shared, or disseminated.”
Trump’s legal team received a draft copy of the report last weekend and it was expected to be released as soon as Friday.
Judge Cannon’s move came after lawyers for Trump’s former co-defendants in the case – Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira – called for him to intervene. Both men had pleaded not guilty.
Judge Cannon ordered a hold on release until a higher appeals court, the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, could consider an emergency appeal by Mr. Nauta and Mr. D’Olivier.
By law, the special counsels must submit the findings of their investigations to the Justice Department, which is led by the Attorney General. Garland has promised to release all reports to the public and has so far done so.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Mr. Smith did not have the legal authority to submit the classified document report because he was unconstitutionally selected for the job and was politically motivated.
Trump’s legal team also wrote to Garland not to release the report, urging him to end the “weaponization of the justice system.”
On Friday, a judge sentenced Trump “Unconditional Liberation” in a criminal case related to hush money payments, meaning he was spared jail and fines, but would still remain in office as the first US president to be convicted of a felony.
