Trump Prosecutor Jack Smith Resigns From Justice Department Via Reuters

(Reuters) – U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led federal prosecutions against Donald Trump on charges of trying to overturn his 2020 election victory and improper handling of classified documents, is resigning at work, as the Republican president-elect prepares to return to the White House. .

Smith resigned from the Justice Department on Friday, according to a court filing Saturday with US District Judge Aileen Cannon, asking her to lift a court order blocking the release of his report. the last one.

Smith’s resignation notice appeared in a footnote, saying the Special Counsel had completed his work, submitted his final confidential report on Jan. 7, and “parted ways” with the Department. of Justice on January 10.

A former war crimes prosecutor, Smith brought two of the four criminal cases Trump has faced since leaving office, but saw them stalled after a Trump-appointed judge Florida sacked the US Supreme Court – with three justices appointed by Trump. – found that former presidents have strong immunity from prosecution for official acts. No case went to trial.

After Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5, Smith dismissed both cases, citing a longstanding Justice Department rule against impeaching sitting presidents. In asking the courts to dismiss the charges, Smith’s team defended the merits of the lawsuits they brought, pointing out only that Trump’s return to the White House rendered them ineffective.

Smith’s departure is another sign of the collapse of criminal cases against Trump, which could end without legal ramifications for the incoming president and fueled the uproar that helped stall his political comeback.

Smith’s resignation from the Justice Department was expected. Trump, who has called Smith “desperate”, had said he would fire him as soon as he took office on January 20, and suggested he might pursue retaliation against Smith and others. who investigated him as soon as he returned to the office.

Trump in 2023 became the first president or former president of the United States to face criminal charges, first in New York, where he was accused of trying to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star during his campaign. 2016 presidency. Smith’s allegations followed, accusing Trump of illegally storing information after leaving office and trying to overturn his 2020 loss, campaign that led to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Prosecutors in Georgia also charged Trump with trying to overturn his election victory in that state.

TRUMP SAYS POLITICAL HELP

Trump denied wrongdoing and attacked the allegations as politically motivated attempts to damage his campaign. He collected millions in campaign contributions from court cases and used the lawsuits to make a strong case that the political establishment was against him and his supporters.

The Department of Justice defended the cases, saying they were handled by prosecutors working without political influence.

Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 — nearly two years after the Capitol attack — to lead the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into Trump. The move comes just days after Trump announced a bid to return to the White House in 2024.

Garland, the nominee of Democratic President Joe Biden, said Smith would provide some independence in the more serious investigation. Garland had rejected earlier calls to name a special prosecutor, insisting he could effectively oversee the Trump investigation.

Smith returned to Washington from The Hague where he prosecuted war crimes cases stemming from the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. He previously headed the Department of Justice’s Public Affairs Division and worked in the prosecutor’s office in Brooklyn, New York, building a reputation as a fearless investigator.

At the Hague, Smith secured the conviction of Salih Mustafa, a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army who ran a prison where torture took place during the war.

HISTORY FIRST

The indictments, the first federal cases against a former US president, accused Trump of taking highly sensitive national security documents from his Florida vacation home and using false allegations of voter fraud. trying to destroy the collection and certificate of election after his loss of the 2020 elections.

“The attack on our nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented attack on the seat of American democracy. As described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies – lies by the defendant, aimed at disrupting the basic function of the US government,” Smith said when announcing the election in August 2023, one of only two elections he has held during his term. his research.

Smith faced a tight window to complete both impeachments as it was clear that Trump would be able to shut them down if he won the election. Both faced legal hurdles.

In a case involving classified documents, Florida-based US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed all charges in July after ruling that Smith had been improperly nominated as special counsel.

Smith’s office appealed the decision. Prosecutors dropped the appeals related to Trump after his election victory, but signaled that they will continue with the motion to revive the charges against two associates of Trump who were accused of obstructing the investigation.

The election case was stalled for months as Trump’s lawyers appealed for presidential immunity. The U.S. Supreme Court sided largely with Trump in August, ruling that Trump could not be impeached for many of the illegal actions he has taken as president and causing delays added to the case.

Smith admitted in court papers that his team faced “unprecedented circumstances” after Trump won the election over Democrat Kamala Harris. His office decided that both cases could not proceed.

Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records after a trial in a New York money laundering case, which was brought by federal prosecutors. His sentence was delayed indefinitely after he won the election and Trump’s lawyers are calling for it to be overturned in its entirety.

The Georgia case, which includes charges against 14 Trump associates, remains in turmoil as an appeals court decides whether the lead prosecutor, Fani Willis, should be disqualified for misconduct because of dating an ex-girlfriend. The case against Trump is unlikely to continue as long as he is president.