Special Counsel Jack Smith resigned from the Department of Justice on Friday after completing his two criminal investigations of President-elect Donald Trump.
Smith’s departure from the DOJ was noted in a brief section of a court filing submitted by Justice Department officials to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Saturday afternoon. The filing urged the judge not to extend her temporary order from the previous week, which had blocked the release of Smith's final report submitted to department leaders on Tuesday.
“The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” the filing read.
In the filing, DOJ officials requested that Cannon not extend her order from last week. This order prevents the release of Smith’s investigation into Trump’s interference in the 2020 election results. It will remain in effect until Monday.
BREAKING: Jack Smith has resigned from the DOJ pic.twitter.com/QnOoN0UWTj
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) January 11, 2025
Smith’s departure from the DOJ comes just days before outgoing President Joe Biden’s final days in office. Justice Department officials had hinted at his resignation, which was expected. Trump has consistently called for Smith’s prosecution over his handling of the Trump cases and even proposed that he be expelled from the U.S.
He played a key role in the criminal and politically motivated investigations into Trump during the 2024 election. Smith was at the head of the table when the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and the sweeping probes into the events surrounding January 6, 2021. Critics argue that Smith used his position to target a political opponent and that his investigations were part of a more significant effort by the DOJ to weaponize the legal system against conservatives.
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