Special Counsel Jack Smith Resigns Amid Ongoing Legal Scrutiny
WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Jack Smith has officially departed from the Justice Department, having submitted his investigative report concerning President-elect Donald Trump. This move was expected and comes as discussions continue regarding the potential public disclosure of the report.
On Saturday, the Justice Department announced Smith’s resignation through a court filing, indicating that he had vacated his position a day earlier. His exit happens just ten days before Trump’s inauguration, following the dismissal of two criminal cases against Trump that were dropped after his November victory.
Attention now turns to a two-volume report prepared by Smith and his team, which outlines their findings on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and the accumulation of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Initially, the Justice Department planned to release this report before the conclusion of the Biden administration. However, a judge appointed by Trump, who is overseeing the classified documents case, has temporarily blocked the release at the defense’s request. Co-defendants of Trump, including his valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, contended that publicizing the report would unjustly prejudice their case, a position supported by Trump’s legal team.
In response, the Justice Department has stated it will not release the classified volume while the criminal proceedings against Nauta and De Oliveira are ongoing. Although U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July, Smith’s team has appealed that decision, leaving the situation unresolved.
Despite this, prosecutors have expressed their plans to proceed with the release of the report concerning election interference.
In a recent urgent motion filed on Friday, they requested the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to swiftly lift Cannon’s injunction that prevents the release of any part of the report. They also informed Cannon on Saturday that she does not have the authority to impede its disclosure, prompting her to order the prosecution to submit an additional brief by Sunday.
The appeals court rejected an emergency request from the defense on Thursday to block the release of the election interference report, which scrutinizes Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results leading up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. However, it upheld Cannon’s injunction, which bars the release of any findings until three days after the appeals court resolves the issue.
The Justice Department contended in its emergency motion that Cannon’s order was “plainly erroneous.”
“The Attorney General is the Senate-confirmed leader of the Department of Justice and holds the authority to oversee all personnel within the Department,” the Justice Department stated. “This authority encompasses the decision to release an investigative report produced by his staff.”
As per Justice Department regulations, special counsels are obligated to produce reports at the conclusion of their investigations, and it is standard practice for such reports to be made public, regardless of their content.
During Trump’s first term, Attorney General William Barr made public a special counsel report regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its potential ties to the Trump campaign.
Similarly, under President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland has released special counsel reports, including those related to Biden’s handling of classified documents prior to his presidency.
