With the election of Donald Trump, the cases against the former and future president look to be winding down, including when it comes to those brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. On Wednesday morning, eight days after the election, it was reported that Smith would be resigning before Trump takes office on January 20.
As The New York Times reported:
Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued two federal prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, plans to finish his work and resign along with other members of his team before Mr. Trump takes office in January, people familiar with his plans said.
Mr. Smith’s goal, they said, is to not leave any significant part of his work for others to complete and to get ahead of the president-elect’s promise to fire him within “two seconds” of being sworn in.
Mr. Smith, who since taking office two years ago has operated under the principle that not even a powerful ex-president is above the law, now finds himself on the defensive as he rushes to wind down a pair of complex investigations slowed by the courts and ultimately made moot by Mr. Trump’s electoral victory.
Mr. Smith’s office is still drawing up its plan for how to end the cases, and it is possible that unforeseen circumstances — such as judicial rulings or decisions by other government officials — could alter his intended timeline. But Mr. Smith is trying to finish his work and leave before Mr. Trump returns to power, the people familiar with his plans said.
The election’s outcome spelled the end of the federal cases against Mr. Trump, since Justice Department policy has long held that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted for crimes. A Supreme Court ruling this summer significantly expanded the scope of official presidential conduct that cannot be prosecuted even after leaving office.
There's still questions about Smith's report, as the piece goes on to mention:
Department regulations call for him to file a report summarizing his investigation and decisions — a document that may stand as the final accounting from a prosecutor who filed extensive charges against a former president but never got his cases to trial.
It is not clear how quickly he can finish this work, leaving uncertain whether it could be made public before the Biden administration leaves office. But several officials said he has no intention of lingering any longer than he has to, and has told career prosecutors and F.B.I. agents on his team who are not directly involved in that process that they can start planning their departures over the next few weeks, people close to the situation said.
The reporting also mentioned Attorney General Merrick Garland's role in this:
The type of special counsel report being prepared by Mr. Smith and his team is technically supposed to be directed to the attorney general.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has repeatedly signaled he intends to release such reports to the public, although with some redactions to comply with broader department rules.
...
Justice Department regulations require a special counsel’s report to explain why the prosecutor decided to file the charges they did, and why they decided not to file any other charges they considered.
But like much of Mr. Smith’s work involving Mr. Trump, this step is fraught with both technical and practical challenges that could make the report significantly different — and shorter — from the lengthy tomes produced by other recent special counsels. It also unlikely to contain much in the way of new or revelatory disclosures.
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The big question now, assuming Mr. Smith finishes the report on his current schedule, is whether Mr. Garland will release the findings before he leaves office, or defer the release to the Trump team, which might not make its contents public.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Garland declined to comment.
What's not mentioned is that the very constitutionality of Garland's appointment of Smith has been called into question, with Justice Clarence Thomas raising such an issue in his concurring opinion for the Trump v. United States decision, which came down on July 1.
As The New York Times referenced, House Republicans aren't willing to let concerns with Smith go unanswered. Last Friday, as Mia covered, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) demanded that Smith preserve documents related to the Trump probes. It was also the same day that Smith made a significant move, as he asked for a pause in the proceedings against Trump.
Jack Smith should preserve all records.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 8, 2024
w/@RepLoudermilk pic.twitter.com/OOMS8uKS9q
Republicans have kept control of the House, as was projected on Monday, so we can hopefully expect to see more action from Jordan and Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) on this.
Smith's cases against Trump were only one part of the weaponization and politicization against Trump by a Biden-Harris White House that saw him as their top political enemy and treated him as such. That didn't stop Vice President Kamala Harris from ironically claiming during the presidential debate in September that it was Trump who would weaponize the government when her administration's Department of Justice had already been doing so.
There are still other cases against Trump. Arguments as to whether Fulton County DA Fani Willis can even remain on the case will not be heard until next month. There have also already been several dismissed charges in that highly publicized case. On Tuesday, Judge Juan Merchan delayed whether to dismiss the May 30 guilty verdict against Trump until November 19.
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