Jack Smith, the US special counsel who led federal investigations into Donald Trump, including attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the mishandling of classified documents, has resigned from the Justice Department. It was reported CNN and Reuters.
Smith’s statement comes amid legal battles surrounding his final two-volume investigative report. Attorney General Merrick Garland received the report on Tuesday. However, Garland chose not to release the part of the report dealing with the classified documents case, although he noted that it should become public in the future.
Smith’s office has been in the process of being liquidated for several weeks, and his resignation before Trump’s inauguration was not unexpected. In addition to completing the report, Smith’s team transferred the authority of the special counsel’s office to other lawyers at the Justice Department and closed two federal criminal cases against Trump over his election victory.
The Justice Department is currently fighting in court over the release of Smith’s report. On Friday, an appeals court rejected a request by Trump and his allies to keep the report secret. Judge Eileen Cannon previously imposed a temporary publication ban on the report, but the Justice Department appealed to lift the ban.
In the absence of new decisions, the Ministry of Justice may release the first volume of the report to the public as early as Sunday or Monday. However, Judge Cannon is requesting more information about the contents of the first volume, including whether it relates to the classified documents case.
Trump and his legal team have argued that the report cannot be released because Judge Cannon’s decision to disqualify Smith removes his authority to produce such a document. They also criticize Garland’s plan to make the report available to lawmakers, who would be barred from disclosing details of the document.
It will be recalled that Smith was appointed a special prosecutor in November 2022 after Trump announced his participation in the 2024 elections. In 2023, Smith brought charges against Trump in two cases: trying to influence the results of the 2020 election and improper storage of classified documents. However, legal difficulties and Trump’s election victory led to the closure of these cases.
His final report may be the last testimony about the results of the investigations and their legal reasoning. Even if the report is not made public in its entirety, Congress or public organizations may seek access to it through legislative initiatives or requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
Smith’s resignation casts doubt on the fate of the high-profile Trump investigations. At the same time, this event increases the controversy about the use of the Ministry of Justice for political purposes, which critics of the former president have repeatedly hinted at.
