(Reuters) – US special counsel Jack Smith, who led the charges against Donald Trump on charges of trying to reverse his 2020 election defeat and mishandling classified documents, has resigned, as the Republican presidential nominee prepares to return to the White House. .
Smith resigned Friday from the Justice Department, according to a court filing Saturday with US District Judge Aileen Cannon, asking her to lift a court order barring the release of his final report.
Smith's resignation notice appeared in a footnote in the file, saying the Special Counsel had completed his work, delivering his final confidential report on Jan. 7, and was “separated” from the Justice Department on Jan. 10.
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A former war crimes prosecutor, Smith brought two of the four cases against Trump after he left office, but saw them stalled after a Trump-appointed judge in Florida overturned one and the US Supreme Court — and three Trump-appointed judges. — they found that former presidents have a lot of freedom from being prosecuted for official actions. No case has been brought to trial.
After Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election, Smith dropped both charges, citing a longstanding Justice Department rule against prosecuting sitting presidents. In asking the courts to throw out the charges, Smith's team defended the charges they brought, pointing out only that Trump's return to the White House made them fail.
Smith's departure is another sign of the implosion of criminal charges against Trump, which could end without legal consequences for the incoming president and fueled the controversy that helped solidify his political comeback.
Smith's resignation from the Justice Department was expected. Trump, who has often called Smith “deranged”, had said he would fire him as soon as he took office on January 20, and suggested he could retaliate against Smith and others who investigated him once he returned to office.
Trump in 2023 became the first sitting or former president of the United States to be prosecuted for criminal charges, first in New York, when he was charged with trying to hide payments to a sex star during his 2016 presidential campaign. Smith's lawsuits followed, accusing Trump of illegally withholding classified information after leaving office and trying to reverse his loss in 2020, a campaign that sparked attacks on Jan. 6, 2021, at the US Capitol. Georgia prosecutors have also charged Trump with trying to reverse his election loss in the state.
TRUMP IS LOOKING FOR A POLITICAL BOOST
Trump has denied wrongdoing and denounced the prosecution as a political effort to damage his campaign. He raised millions in campaign contributions from his court appearances and used the cases to tell a powerful story that the political establishment was stacked against him and his supporters.
The Department of Justice defended the cases, saying they were handled by career prosecutors who worked without political influence.
Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 — nearly two years after the Capitol attack — to lead the Justice Department's twin Trump administration. The move came days after Trump announced a bid to return to the White House in the 2024 election.
Garland, the nominee of Democratic President Joe Biden, said Smith would provide a level of independence in the most sensitive investigation. Garland had rejected earlier calls to call a special prosecutor, insisting he could oversee the Trump investigation.
Smith returned to Washington from The Hague where he prosecuted war crimes stemming from the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. He previously headed the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice and worked in the prosecutor's office in Brooklyn, New York, building a reputation as a tough investigator.
In The Hague, Smith won the conviction of Salih Mustafa, the former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army who ran the prison where torture took place during the conflict.
HISTORY FIRST
The charges, which are the first federal charges against a former US president, accuse Trump of taking highly sensitive national security documents from his Florida resort and using false claims of voter fraud to try to interfere with the collection and verification of votes following his loss in the 2020 election.
“The attack on our nation's Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented attack on the seat of American democracy. As described in the lawsuit, it was fueled by lies – the defendant's lies, which were intended to disrupt the foundation of the US government,” Smith said when announcing the election charges in August 2023, one of two public appearances he made during his investigation.
Smith faced a tight window to finish both cases as it was clear that Trump would be able to close them if he won the election. Both have faced legal hurdles.
In the classified documents case, Florida-based US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed all charges in July after ruling that Smith was improperly appointed as special counsel.
Smith's office appealed that decision. Prosecutors dropped a motion against Trump following his election victory, but indicated they would pursue a motion to reopen charges against two Trump associates accused of obstructing the investigation.
The election case was stalled for months while Trump's lawyers filed for presidential immunity. The US Supreme Court sided heavily with Trump in August, ruling that Trump could not be prosecuted for many of the official actions he took as president, further delaying the case.
Smith acknowledged in court papers that his party faced an “unprecedented situation” after Trump's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris. His office concluded both cases could not proceed.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records following a trial in a hush money case in New York, brought by federal prosecutors. His conviction was delayed indefinitely after he won the election and Trump's lawyers are calling for it to be overturned.
The Georgia case, which includes charges against 14 Trump associates, remains in limbo while an appeals court decides whether the lead prosecutor, Fani Willis, should be disbarred for misconduct over an affair with a former top aide. The case against Trump is unlikely to move forward while he is president.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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