Special Counsel Jack Smith Resigns Ahead of Trump’s Inauguration, Marking End of Federal Investigations

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TOPSHOT - Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024. Republican former president Donald Trump closed in on a new term in the White House early November 6, 2024, just needing a handful of electoral votes to defeat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Special Counsel Jack Smith, who led two high-profile criminal investigations into President-elect Donald Trump, formally resigned on Friday, days before Trump’s return to the White House. Smith’s investigations included the classified documents case and the January 6 election interference case. Both cases are now closed, with no charges remaining against Trump.

Smith’s resignation was revealed in a Justice Department court filing submitted Saturday to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida. The filing requested that Cannon refrain from extending a court order blocking the release of Smith’s final confidential report summarizing the now-closed federal Trump investigations.

Smith’s resignation had been anticipated since Trump’s victory in November, with reports from The New York Times suggesting that Smith planned to step down before Trump’s inauguration. Trump himself had previously declared that he would fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office.

According to the filing, Smith completed his work earlier in the week and submitted his final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday. The Justice Department argued that Judge Cannon lacked the authority to prevent the public release of Smith’s findings, which pertain to the two federal probes targeting Trump.

In July, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case, ruling that Attorney General Garland’s appointment of Smith violated constitutional procedures. Cannon found that Smith had not been nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate, as required for his role, and that Congress had not appropriated funds for his investigation.

Smith’s classified documents investigation alleged that Trump improperly retained sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the presidency in 2021. Two co-defendants in the case, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, were also indicted. However, the Justice Department dropped its appeal of Cannon’s dismissal of Trump’s charges, though it continued to pursue an appeal related to the co-defendants.

The January 6 case, which accused Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results, also ended without prosecution. Last week, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., granted Smith’s motion to dismiss all felony charges in the case. Smith’s decision to withdraw the charges came after the Justice Department invoked its longstanding policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Smith’s tenure as special counsel faced significant legal and procedural challenges, ultimately undermining the cases brought against Trump. His appointment was criticized for bypassing Senate confirmation, and questions about the funding of his investigations added further complications.

National Review reports that with Smith’s resignation and the closure of the federal investigations, Trump is poised to assume office on January 20 unburdened by active legal threats at the federal level. His return to the White House marks an unprecedented chapter in U.S. history, as he will be the first president to have been criminally indicted and later re-elected.

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