US Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee investigations relating to former President Donald Trump and his allies. Garland announced the appointment during a Friday news conference.
Smith will oversee investigations into Trump’s handling of classified and other presidential documents and the possible obstruction of that case. He will also be in charge of the ongoing probe into possible interference in the 2020 election and the certification of the electoral vote.
Garland did not shy away from the reason he is appointing the special counsel, stating it is partially a result of Trump’s Tuesday announcement that he is running for president in 2024.
“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intentions to be a candidate as well,” Garland explained. “I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”
Investigations and prosecutions of individuals who were physically present at the Capitol riots will remain under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia’s attorney general.
Smith started his prosecutorial career in 1994 as an assistant district attorney in New York. In 2010, he became the chief of the Public Integrity section of the Justice Department where he oversaw public corruption cases and election crimes. Prior to his appointment, Smith worked as the chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, where he prosecuted war crimes in Kosovo.
In a statement, Smith said he would carry out his duties ”independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.”
“Such an appointment underscores the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” Garland told reporters. “It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”
Shortly after news broke on the development, Trump slammed Garland's decision, stressing he would not "partake" in the "unfair" twin probes.
"I have been going through this for six years — for six years I have been going through this, and I am not going to go through it anymore," Trump said in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview. "And I hope the Republicans have the courage to fight this."
"It is not acceptable. It is so unfair. It is so political," he continued, adding that "it is not even believable that they’re allowed to do this. This is the worst politicization of justice in our country."
The White House has indicated that Biden was not given an advanced notice of Garland's decision on the matter.
Although both Smith and Garland said the appointment would not slow down the investigations, it remains unclear how the special counsel assignment might change the pace of the probes, which had already been proceeding vigorously.