Top line

Special Counsel Jack Smith will resign and end his two prosecutions of President-elect Donald Trump before Trump took office, multiple times. points of sale reportalthough the special counsel is expected to summarize his lengthy investigations in a final report before he leaves, but this will need to be completed quickly for the public to see.

Key facts

When could Jack Smith’s report be released?

It is unclear how soon the Smith report might be made public. The special advisor is had to submit a file in Trump’s election case by December 2 explaining how the prosecution should proceed – and end, most likely – so a report is unlikely to be released before then as long as the case against Trump is still active. Smith also has an appeal against charges related to Trump’s documents still pending in federal appeals court, after Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, and he did not yet given any indication to the court in this case as to how it plans to proceed. Another complicating factor that will delay the release of the Smith report is the fact that it will need to be reviewed by intelligence agencies for classified information. This process took weeks for Hur’s report, the Times notes and Politico. underlines This could be a particularly arduous process when it comes to Smith’s coverage of the documents investigation, as it involves many of the classified documents that Trump brought back to Mar-a-Lago.

When will Jack Smith resign?

Sources cited by the Times were unclear how long Smith planned to stay at the Justice Department before ultimately leaving: Although his goal is to leave before Inauguration Day, the Times notes that those plans are still in place. evolving and that there could be “unforeseen circumstances”. » like the last minute court decisions which keep him longer. As it stands, Smith is trying to “finish his work and leave” before Jan. 20 and has “no intention of lingering any longer than necessary,” sources familiar with Smith’s plans told the Times .

What will the report say?

While it remains to be seen what Smith’s final report will say, the special counsel has detailed, through numerous court documents, how prosecutors believe Trump committed crimes in leading the effort to overturn the election. 2020 and allegedly hiding White House documents. Smith detailed in election records, including a major published in October – how prosecutors say Trump pushed voter fraud claims after the 2020 election despite knowing they were false, alleging Trump was repeatedly told by those around him that his claims of fraud were false and seemed to believe them himself, telling his family: “That’s not the case. it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You have to fight like hell. He and his co-conspirators, who have not been charged, undertook a number of efforts to try to change the results, including lobbying state lawmakers and the state vice president. era, Mike Pence, and orchestrating a “fake voter” scheme in which Republican Party officials submitted false declarations. lists of congressional voters, according to prosecutors. Trump also reportedly took little action to prevent his supporters from rioting on January 6, with Smith alleging that Trump watched the attack on the Capitol building unfold on television from the White House dining room while drinking coffee. Diet Coke. When an aide told him Pence needed to be moved to a secure location, Trump reportedly responded: “So what? In the documents case, prosecutors allege that Trump took the White House files with him to Mar-a-Lago and then intentionally refused to turn them over to the government. Trump knowingly hid the release of classified documents in response to a government subpoena, Smith claims, by employing aides to move the documents so his lawyer could not find them. Trump indictment also shows White House documents currently in storage throughout Mar-a-Lago, including in its ballroom, in its bedroom and near a toilet bathroom.

Will Trump retaliate against Jack Smith?

Although Smith’s planned departure will prevent Trump from firing Smith, as the president-elect has pledged to do, he could still attempt to retaliate against the special counsel after he takes office. Trump has previously suggested he wanted to retaliate against Smith — one of several perceived enemies Trump could target in a second term — saying in interviews before the election that he wanted Smith, who is not an immigrant, or deported. House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to Smith on Nov. 8, asking him to preserve all records from his office that could be relevant to a congressional investigation, suggesting that GOP lawmakers will also try to go after Smith in the coming months. “Jack Smith’s abuses of the justice system cannot go unpunished” billionaire Elon Muskbecame one of Trump’s main advisors, tweeted in response to Jordan’s letter.

Key context

Garland appointed Smith as special counsel in November 2022 to oversee the federal government’s investigations into Trump, appointing the third-party investigator to avoid perceptions of bias as Biden and Trump were expected to face off in the presidential election. Smith then charged Trump with a total of 44 counts between the two criminal cases, marking the first time a sitting or former president had been indicted on federal charges. While both cases were scheduled to go to trial before the election – in March for the election case and in May for the documents case – Trump and his lawyers managed to win their case. drag them. The federal election case was on hold for months while the Supreme Court considered whether Trump had immunity from criminal charges, which lasted until July — too late to be tried before Election Day. Cannon appeared to slow down requests in the documents case for long enough that she ended up postponing the trial indefinitely, before dropping the charges altogether. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and has long denounced his criminal cases as a “witch hunt” designed to damage his presidential campaign and denounced Smith, calling the special prosecutor a “thug” who is prejudiced against him .

Further reading

ForbesJack Smith asks court to halt Trump election lawsuit after ex-president’s victoryBy Alison Durkee
ForbesHow All of Trump’s Criminal Cases Collapsed – While Hush Money Case Now DelayedBy Alison Durkee
ForbesWhat the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling means for Trump’s second termBy Alison Durkee
ForbesTrump Sprung: Here’s why and when his criminal cases will be dropped or delayedBy Alison Durkee