WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Jack Smith has officially stepped down from the Justice Department, having submitted his investigative report regarding President-elect Donald Trump. This departure was anticipated and comes amidst ongoing legal debates about the extent of the report that can be disclosed to the public in the near future.
The Justice Department revealed Smith’s resignation in a court document on Saturday, noting that he had left his position a day prior. His resignation occurs just ten days before Trump’s inauguration, following the dismissal of two criminal cases against Trump that had been dropped after his victory in November.
Currently, the focus is on a two-volume report crafted by Smith and his team, which details their investigations into Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his accumulation of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Initially, the Justice Department was expected to release this report before the end of the Biden administration. However, a judge appointed by Trump, overseeing the classified documents case, has temporarily halted the release at the request of the defense. Two of Trump’s co-defendants, including his valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, argued that making the report public would unfairly prejudice their case, a stance that Trump’s legal team has also supported.
In response, the Justice Department stated it would refrain from making the classified volume public while criminal proceedings against Nauta and De Oliveira are still ongoing. Although U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had dismissed the case in July, Smith’s team has appealed that decision, which keeps the matter unresolved.
Nonetheless, prosecutors have expressed their intention to move forward with the release of the election interference report.
In an urgent motion filed late Friday, they requested the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to quickly lift Cannon’s injunction that barred the release of any part of the report. They also informed Cannon on Saturday that she lacked the authority to prevent its release, to which she responded by ordering the prosecution to submit an additional brief by Sunday.
The appeals court denied an emergency request from the defense on Thursday to block the release of the election interference report, which examines Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results prior to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. However, it upheld Cannon’s injunction, which prevents any findings from being released until three days after the appeals court resolves the matter.
The Justice Department argued in its emergency motion that Cannon’s order was “plainly erroneous.”
“The Attorney General is the Senate-confirmed leader of the Department of Justice and has the authority to oversee all personnel within the Department,” the Justice Department stated. “This authority extends to deciding whether to release an investigative report produced by his staff.”
According to Justice Department regulations, special counsels are required to produce reports upon completion of their investigations, and it is standard practice for such reports to be publicly disclosed, regardless of their content.
During Trump’s first term, Attorney General William Barr published a special counsel report investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its potential connections to the Trump campaign.
Similarly, Attorney General Merrick Garland, under Biden, has also released special counsel reports, including those regarding Biden’s handling of classified documents prior to his presidency.
