By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-11 22:57:38 | Updated at 2025-01-16 05:30:18
4 days ago
Special Counsel Jack Smith – who oversaw two historic prosecutions against President-elect Donald Trump – has resigned from the Justice Department, according to court documents.
The move by the embattled prosecutor — effective Friday — was expected ahead of the end of outgoing President Joe Biden’s term.
“The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” DOJ officials wrote in court papers filed Saturday in Florida.
Smith brought two criminal cases against Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 election results and for mishandling classified documents – both of which were dropped after Trump’s election victory.
Neither had reached trial.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed the cases against him were part of an effort to damage his political campaign.
Smith’s exit comes after a US appeals court on Thursday declined to block the DOJ from releasing his investigative report into Trump’s attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election — accusations Trump has repeatedly denied.
The report, if released, is expected to detail the 2020 election probe.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed Smith, decided not to publicly release the portion of the report focused on classified documents while legal proceedings against Trump’s two former co-defendants remain ongoing.
Trump has slammed Smith as “deranged” and said in November he would quickly can the prosecutor if he could.
“I would fire him within two seconds. He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” Trump said days before winning the White House.
This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.
