The special counsel who investigated possible crimes by Donald Trump resigned from the Justice Department on Friday. Jack Smith (55) ends his thirty-year career at the Public Prosecution Service with a double defeat. He had already dropped the two cases against Trump in November: about his refusal to return state secret documents and about his role in the attempts to sabotage Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020.
Smith, who was appointed special counsel in November 2022, announced his decision Saturday in a footnote to a document that he sent to a judge in Florida. This judge must rule on the case of state secret documents.
Two of Trump’s co-defendants, two employees of the former and future president at Mar-a-Lago, had asked the judge to block the publication of Smith’s report in the case. The judge agreed; last week she imposed a temporary block on the publication. In his letter this week, Smith rejects the blockade and asks the judge to revoke it.
‘Within two seconds’
“The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his confidential report on January 7, 2025, and retired from the Department of Justice on January 10,” Smith said in his footnote. It is difficult to separate his departure from the appointment of the man he was investigating as president on January 20.
Throughout the investigation, Trump and his associates have raised suspicions about the actions and motives of Smith, who served under both Republican and Democratic attorney generals. Trump announced before the election that he would fire Smith “within two seconds” as soon as he returned to the White House.