Jack Smith, who led the prosecution of Trump, resigns from the US Justice Department

Washington DC:

Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trump for his alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, has left the U.S. Justice Department, prosecutors announced in a court filing Saturday.

“The Special Prosecutor completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” officials said in the document submitted to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the urging not to extend his order last time. week blocking the release of Smith’s final report.

The statement about Smith was a footnote in the filing with Cannon as she considers whether to uphold the special prosecutor’s report on two cases: Trump’s role in the January 6, 2020, insurrection at the US Capitol aimed at stopping the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. , and the case of Trump’s withholding of classified documents after leaving the White House.

With the suspension set to expire in the coming days and Cannon considering an extension, the long legal battle over the report on Trump-related cases comes down to about a week before his inauguration as the 47th US president on January 20.

Trump suggested in a late-night post on his Truth Social platform that Smith had been “fired” by the Justice Department.

“He is a disgrace to himself, his family and his country. After spending over $100,000,000 on the witch hunt against TRUMP, he left town empty handed!” he wrote.

Smith had accused Trump of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, the session of Congress convened to certify Biden’s electoral victory but which was violently attacked on January 6 by a mob of supporters of the Republican leader.

Smith dropped charges against Trump after his victory in the November presidential election.

On Jan. 7, the special prosecutor finalized his confidential report to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the Justice Department said this week that Garland plans to make his findings public.

Department officials argued that Cannon did not have the authority to stop the attorney general from releasing the Smith report.

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