Jack Smith resigns from DOJ amid fight over Trump reports

Special Counsel Jack Smith formally resigned from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday, a detail buried in a court filing as DOJ pushes to release his final report on his investigation into President-elect Trump.

“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 a footnote in a Saturday court filing.

Smith signaled in court filings late last year that he planned to resign as Trump’s win pushed the DOJ to drop charges in both its ongoing cases, pointing to internal policy baring the prosecution of a sitting president.

But his resignation comes amid a heated legal battle with Trump and his two-co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case, who are pushing to block release of that volume of Smith’s report as well as another volume reviewing Trump’s efforts to block the transfer of power.

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 after Trump announced his intention to seek re-election.

The appointment gave him oversight of an ongoing probe into Trump’s mishandling of classified records at his Florida home as well as an election interference case.

His appointment came as DOJ turned the corner on two investigations, filing unprecedented charges against Trump in both cases later that summer. The cases became a cornerstone of Trump’s 2024 campaign as he argued the criminal cases against him were a form of political persecution.

But both cases hit significant roadblocks.

Florida-based U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon tossed the charges against Trump and his two co-defendants, upending 50 years of precedent regarding special counsel appointments in finding Smith was unlawfully appointed.

DOJ has appealed that ruling for Trump’s two co-conspirators in the case, a matter that rests before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

And numerous appeals from Trump in his Jan. 6 election interference case slowed that prosecution, including a matter heard by Supreme Court, which later ruled former presidents retain broad immunity from prosecution once they leave office.

Trump’s reelection spiked the ongoing cases, but Smith was still set to release the final report all special counsels draft upon finishing their work.

For Trump critics, the two-volume report represented a last chance of accountability for a former president who otherwise avoided a lengthy legal battle on two sets of criminal charges.

But a move by Trump and his Mar-a-Lago co-defendants valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos de Oliveira, has tied up the release of Smith’s final work.

Though Garland said he would not release the Mar-a-Lago volume of the report given the ongoing case against Nauta and de Oliveira, he otherwise planned to release the Jan. 6 volume.

The men again turned to Cannon as well as the 11th Circuit. While the appeals court declined to take up an emergency motion to block the report’s release, Cannon did, barring its release for another three days after any ruling from the 11th Circuit.

It’s a confusing legal battle as the case was no longer before Cannon and DOJ has argued she no longer has any authority over the case, asking the 11th Circuit to strike down her imposed three-day delay on the reports release.

DOJ also argues the men and Cannon have no claim in seeking to block the release of the Jan. 6 report as it does not involve Trump’s two co-defendants and because Cannon never oversaw that case.

Cannon later Saturday ordered Nauta and de Oliveira to respond to DOJ’s effort to unwind her order by Sunday morning.

But further briefings will delay a legal matter compounded by Trump’s Inauguration.

Once in office Trump’s DOJ is expected to drop the charges against his two co-defendants and shelve Smith’s work, keeping it from ever being viewed by the public.

Updated at 6 p.m. EST.

Topics

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