Attorney General Merrick Garland has decided to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee two ongoing federal investigations into Donald Trump: one into classified documents held at his Mar-a-Lago residence after his presidency and one into his attempts to interfere in the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 elections, which culminated in the assault on the Capitol by his fans on January 6, 2021. The tycoon reacted quickly, who in an interview with Fox defined the initiative as "political" and "unjust".
The choice fell on Jack Smith, appointed in 2018 as chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in The Hague, where he investigated war crimes in Kosovo.
The politically independent Harvard graduate is a veteran of the Justice Department, where he led the public integrity section and served as a state and federal attorney in New York and Tennessee.
He has handled high-profile cases in the past, impeaching then-Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Congressman Rick Renzi, both Republicans, among others.
The 'special counsel' will start working "immediately", enjoying his autonomy, even if in the end he will remain subject to the control of the attorney general, who is responsible for making the final decision.
"Based on recent developments, including the former president's announcement that he is running again in the next election and the incumbent president's stated intention to run as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor," he explained. Garland at a press conference, three days after Trump's announcement.
"This appointment underscores the department's commitment to both independence and accountability, particularly in sensitive matters," he added, while the White House said it was not involved in the move.
The attorney general thus wanted to isolate and protect his ministry from accusations and suspicions of politically persecuting a rival of the president in 2024, after some Republicans had already aired the
hypothesis of putting him under impeachment.
However, the move will probably not prevent the tycoon's allies from demonizing Smith as well.
This is the third 'special counsel' appointed since 2017, after Robert Mueller for the investigation into Trump in Russiagate and John Duram appointed under the presidency of the tycoon in the counter-investigation into the origins of Russiagate.
Among the best known special prosecutors of the past, there is Ken Starr, who died last September: he initiated the investigation into the Lewinsky case which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
The former president will now therefore have to deal with a new special counsel, after having heavily attacked Mueller for the duration of his investigations.
But other investigations are pending against him, from the one in Georgia on pressure to overturn the 2020 vote in Peach State to that of New York on the inflated assets of his holding company.