Jack Smith, Special Counsel, Steps Down from the Justice Department

Jack Smith, who was investigating Donald Trump for alleged interference with the 2020 election and retention of classified documents post his White House tenure, has officially resigned as special counsel. He submitted his final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Smith resigned Friday, according to a court filing that noted his departure in a footnote.

Smith’s resignation was expected after Trump’s reelection, as both cases against the president-elect were dropped due to a Department of Justice policy preventing the prosecution of a sitting president.

Trump repeatedly vowed he would fire Smith upon taking office and has said Smith should be “thrown out of the country.”

In November 2022, Garland appointed Smith to lead the investigations. Smith brought 37 charges against Trump in June 2023 for mishandling classified materials. Prosecutors claimed Trump had withheld hundreds of documents containing classified information, including U.S. nuclear data and defense strategies, while obstructing government retrieval efforts.

Two month later, Smith indicted Trump on charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.

Trump, who has denied all wrongdoing, pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases and slammed the prosecutions as a political with hunt, before both cases were dismissed in November due to presidential immunity.

The release of Smith’s final report on the two cases has been the subject of a court battle over the last week.