Jack Smith, the special counsel responsible for leading two major federal criminal investigations against former President Donald Trump, has officially stepped down from the Justice Department. His resignation, which was filed on Friday, comes just weeks before the newly elected president takes office.
In a court filing submitted on Saturday, it was revealed that Smith had “separated from the Department.” The move had been anticipated, with CBS News previously reporting in November that Smith would leave the Justice Department after concluding his work.
Smith’s resignation follows ongoing controversy surrounding the release of his report on Trump’s handling of classified documents. Appointed as special counsel in 2022, Smith oversaw two critical investigations: one focusing on Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified documents and the other examining his alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election results. Both investigations led to criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty and claimed the cases were politically motivated.
Following Trump’s recent electoral victory, the cases against him were closed last year. Prosecutors cited Department of Justice regulations that prohibit prosecuting a sitting president. Smith’s departure allows him to step down without facing dismissal from Trump or the incoming administration’s attorney general.
Despite the closure of the cases, legal disputes over Smith’s findings remain unresolved. Earlier this week, US District Judge Aileen Cannon issued a temporary order preventing Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing or sharing the report on Trump’s classified documents case. The draft report had been shared with Trump’s legal team last weekend, with a public release initially expected by Friday.
The judge’s intervention came after legal representatives for two of Trump’s former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, requested that the report’s release be delayed. Both men, who also faced charges in the classified documents case, have pleaded not guilty.
Judge Cannon’s order halts the report’s release until the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reviews an emergency appeal from Nauta and De Oliveira. According to legal procedures, special counsels must submit their findings to the Department of Justice. Garland had previously pledged to make such reports public.
Trump’s legal team has argued that Smith lacked the authority to submit the classified documents report, claiming his appointment was unconstitutional and politically biased. They have also called on Garland to refrain from releasing the report, urging him to end what they described as the “weaponization of the justice system.”
In a separate legal case, Trump recently received an “unconditional discharge” after being convicted in a criminal case related to hush money payments. The ruling spares him from jail time or fines, although he will enter office as the first US president with a felony conviction.
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