In a Saturday court filing, officials announced that Special Counsel Jack Smith had resigned.
This move was anticipated ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Smith’s report about Trump’s alleged role in the 2020 election interference will be released shortly. Trump has denied these allegations.
“The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” a government court filing said in a footnote.
The footnote is part of an official Justice Department filing where the government asks U.S. district judge Aileen Cannon (a Trump appointee) not to extend a temporary restriction blocking part of Smith’s report.
Trump was indicted for charges relating to allegations that he tried to overturn the election results of 2020. The case was dismissed after he entered a plea of not guilty. Smith’s federal charges were dropped after Trump was elected as president in 2024. Justice Department policy has been to not prosecute a president while in office.
Smith was nominated by Merrick Garland, Attorney General in November 2022. Garland stated at the time, that appointing Smith would be in the “public interest” as Trump had declared his candidacy. Biden also planned to run for another term. Garland, appointed by Biden in 2022, stated that Smith’s appointment “underscores both the Department’s independence and accountability on particularly sensitive issues.”
Smith was in charge of investigations into Trump’s alleged attempts to reverse the 2020 election as well as allegations he mishandled classified materials.
Cannon dismissed this case in July 2024 after determining that Smith had been appointed and funded illegally. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Smith was frequently criticised by the president-elect, who said in October he would “fire” him within seconds of taking office.
A spokesperson for Trump didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.
A federal appeals court decided earlier this week that the Justice Department can release Smith’s Report on Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 elections. The court did not change Cannon’s original order to delay the release of the report for three days so that Trump could decide whether or not to appeal.
Cannon ordered the Justice Department to submit a document by Sunday morning at 10 am confirming that Smith’s report on alleged election interference did not mention Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. These two co-defendants were involved in the classified documents lawsuit. Nauta, De Oliveira, and the classified documents case against Trump were dropped but they still face charges.
Smith said he wouldn’t release the second volume in his report on the classified documents case, as the charges against co-defendants were still pending.
