Jack Smith Resigns from Justice Department After Submitting Report on Trump Investigations
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department, following the submission of his investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump. This move was anticipated and comes amid ongoing legal debates regarding how much of the report can be made public in the coming days.
The Justice Department confirmed Smith’s resignation in a court filing on Saturday, stating that he had stepped down the day before. His departure comes just 10 days before Trump’s inauguration and follows two criminal cases against Trump, both of which were dropped after Trump’s victory in the 2020 election.
Smith’s investigation focused on two major issues: Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. A two-volume report, prepared by Smith and his team, now sits at the center of a legal battle over its public release.
The Justice Department had initially planned to release the report before the end of the Biden administration. However, a Trump-appointed judge, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, temporarily blocked the release of the classified documents section of the report. Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta (Trump’s valet) and Carlos De Oliveira (Mar-a-Lago property manager), argued that the public release of the report could harm their defense by being unfairly prejudicial. Trump’s legal team joined the request to delay the release.
The Justice Department has agreed to withhold the classified section of the report as long as criminal proceedings against Nauta and De Oliveira are pending. Despite this, prosecutors remain determined to release the section of the report detailing Trump’s efforts to interfere with the 2020 election.
In an emergency motion filed late Friday, the department requested the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to lift the injunction imposed by Cannon. This injunction prevented the release of any part of the report. The appeals court had already denied a request to block the release of the election interference section, which covers Trump’s efforts to reverse the election results leading up to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. However, Cannon’s injunction remains in place, prohibiting any report releases until three days after the appeals court resolves the matter.
The Justice Department argued that Cannon’s decision was a “plainly erroneous” interpretation of the law. The department emphasized that the Attorney General has the authority to determine whether to release a report prepared by his subordinates.
Under Justice Department regulations, special counsels are required to produce a report at the conclusion of their investigations. This is customary for such documents, regardless of the topic. For context, former Attorney General William Barr released the special counsel report investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Similarly, Attorney General Merrick Garland has authorized the release of other special counsel reports, including those about President Biden’s handling of classified information before he took office.
