Court allows expediting appeal in case over Donald Trump 2:58
(CNN) --
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel Friday, to oversee the Mar-a-Lago investigation and aspects of the January 6, 2021 investigation.
Both investigations concern the conduct of Donald Trump, who on Tuesday announced his 2024 presidential bid, making him a potential rival to President Joe Biden.
Smith is a former Acting United States Attorney from Tennessee and also served as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn-based United States Attorney's Office.
He previously headed the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, which handles election crimes and public corruption investigations.
Since 2018, Smith has served as the chief prosecutor of the special court in The Hague investigating war crimes in Kosovo, having previously worked for the International Criminal Court, overseeing war crimes investigations.
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Smith's appointment gives him authority to investigate the handling of government documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and determine "whether any person or entity violated the law in connection with the change of command following the Electoral College's certification of the 2020 presidential election." ” on January 6, 2021.
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Justice Department officials have debated for weeks whether to appoint a special prosecutor, something CNN previously reported.
Trump tried to establish that the investigations have been the product of political motivations, including in his presidential announcement on Tuesday, where he said that he was the victim of "weaponization" by the justice system.
Trump's team considered in recent days the likelihood that the Justice Department would appoint a special counsel, multiple sources familiar with the conversations told CNN.
Trump's lawyers feared that would happen, concerned that it would prolong the ongoing investigation in the courts.
And Trump himself has complained about the matter, comparing the picture to former special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the Russia investigation.
Trump, DeSantis and Pence.
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According to multiple sources, both the Mar-a-Lago investigation and the January 6 investigation into Trump aim to gather more information and call witnesses before a federal grand jury in the coming weeks.
Prosecutors have sent out several new subpoenas related to both investigations in recent days.
Some of the witnesses in this round had not spoken to investigators in these cases before, according to some of the sources.
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