WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department on Friday, officers mentioned in a court docket filing on Saturday.
The transfer was expected forward of President-elect Donald Trump taking the oath of workplace.
Smith’s report on Trump’s alleged involvement in 2020 election interference is predicted to be launched quickly. Trump has denied the allegations.
“The Special Counsel accomplished his work and submitted his remaining confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” a authorities court docket submitting mentioned in a footnote.
The footnote was a part of a Justice Department submitting wherein the federal government requested U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, to not lengthen a restriction that’s briefly blocking a part of Smith’s report from being launched.
Trump had been indicted on expenses associated to allegations that he tried to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election outcomes. He had entered a not responsible plea earlier than the case was dropped. The federal expenses, introduced by Smith, were dismissed after Trump was elected in 2024. The Justice Department has a longstanding coverage to not prosecute a sitting president.
Smith was appointed in November 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland. He oversaw investigations into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, in addition to allegations that he mishandled labeled paperwork.
The former president was indicted within the labeled paperwork case as nicely, although Cannon dismissed the case in July 2024, deciding that Smith was unlawfully appointed and funded. Trump had pleaded not responsible to all expenses.
The president-elect ceaselessly criticized Smith, and he said in October that he would “hearth him inside two seconds” of taking workplace.
A spokesperson for Trump didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
