Jack Smith resigns from Justice Department

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, has resigned from his position at the Justice Department ahead of the president-elect's inauguration. According to court documents filed on Saturday, Mr. Smith "departed the Department of Justice" on Friday. CBS News, the US media partner of the BBC, reported in November that Smith would resign from the Justice Department after his work was completed.

Smith's departure comes amid controversy surrounding the release of his investigative report on Trump's classified documents case. Smith was appointed as special counsel in 2022 to oversee the Justice Department's two cases against Trump—one regarding the alleged improper hoarding of classified documents and the other regarding alleged interference in the 2020 election results. Both cases resulted in criminal indictments against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty and sought to portray the prosecutions as politically motivated.

After Trump won the presidential election, Smith's case against the president-elect was closed last year. Prosecutors stated that Justice Department regulations prohibit the prosecution of a sitting president. CBS reported in November that Smith's resignation was expected, as it would allow him to leave his position without being fired by Trump or the president-elect's attorney general. His departure means that neither of his criminal prosecutions against Trump have proceeded to trial.

Earlier this week, US District Judge Aileen Cannon—who is overseeing the classified documents case and controversially dismissed the case last July—temporarily barred Mr. Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland from "releasing, sharing or transmitting" the report on the case. Trump's legal team received a draft of the report last weekend, and it was originally scheduled for release on Friday. Judge Cannon's move came after lawyers for Trump's former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, asked her to intervene. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Judge Cannon ordered the release to be paused until the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reviews an emergency appeal from Nauta and De Oliveira. Legal rules require a special counsel to submit their findings to the Department of Justice, which is led by the Attorney General. Garland has pledged to release all reports to the public, and has done so to date. Trump's lawyers argued that Smith had no legal authority to submit the classified documents report because his appointment was unconstitutional and politically motivated. Trump's legal team also wrote to Garland, asking him not to release the report and urging him to end the "weaponization of the justice system."

On Friday, a judge sentenced Trump to "unconditional release" in a criminal case related to hush money payments, meaning he avoided jail and a fine, but he will still be inaugurated as the first president in US history with a felony conviction.