In a recent court filing, it was revealed that Jack Smith, who had been appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022, has stepped down. Smith had been overseeing two investigations related to the President-elect Donald Trump.
Reports from CBS News suggested that Smith had planned to leave the Justice Department upon completion of his assignment. Court records confirm that Smith officially left the Department on January 10.
Smith’s resignation comes amid an ongoing conflict within the Justice Department and defense lawyers connected to Trump. The contention revolves around the release of one part of a two-part report prepared by Smith.
Lawyers representing Trump’s former associates, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, have requested an extension of an order from Judge Aileen Cannon that prevents the release of a portion of Smith’s report.
As per the rules, special counsels are required to provide a detailed report of their findings and decisions related to prosecutions to the attorney general. Garland has committed to making all reports public which were completed during his time in office. This includes a report following an investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified records.
Earlier court documents disclosed that Smith had given a two-volume report to Garland on January 7. This was shortly after Trump’s and his co-defendants’ lawyers reviewed a draft report. Trump’s lawyers then sent a letter to Garland, requesting him to remove Smith from his position and stop the report’s release.
Post review, Trump’s co-defendants’ lawyers asked Judge Cannon and judges of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to prevent Garland from releasing the report.
Smith was given charge in November 2022 to lead two investigations into Trump by the Justice Department. One was related to Trump’s actions post the 2020 presidential elections and the other to his handling of classified records post-presidency. These investigations led to criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty.
Smith’s cases against Trump were closed last year after Trump won the presidential election, as Justice Department regulations prohibit the prosecution of a sitting president.
Despite this, the special counsel at the time chose to keep an appeal open regarding the dismissal of the classified documents investigation in the cases of Nauta and de Oliveira. Their attorneys sought to block the report’s release, alleging it would bias their case.
The Justice Department responded by stating that the attorney general will not release the report section related to the classified documents investigation until the case is fully closed. However, it would be made accessible to a select group of Congress members.
Despite this, defense lawyers and Trump’s legal team have called on federal courts to halt the release of the report section detailing Smith’s investigation into the 2020 election.
As of now, the report remains unreleased as ordered by Judge Cannon. She instructed the Justice Department to keep the report confidential until at least Sunday. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals judges denied the request from Trump’s co-defendants to halt the report’s release further.
Defense lawyers have now requested Judge Cannon to extend her order prohibiting the report’s release, a move opposed by the Justice Department.
