Donald Trump has claimed that “deranged” Jack Smith was fired as special counsel by the Department of Justice ahead of the president-elect’s return to office.
Newsweek has contacted the Trump transition team and the DOJ for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
Why It Matters
Trump appears to have contradicted the official line that Smith, who oversaw two criminal investigations into the Republican, resigned from the DOJ on Friday.
What To Know
In his role as special counsel, Smith led the now-dismissed federal investigations into Trump’s alleged criminal attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and his hoarding of classified materials. The Republican pleaded not guilty to all federal charges against him.
Smith moved to drop both cases after Trump’s 2024 election victory due to a long-standing DOJ policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
In a post on Truth Social in the early hours on Sunday ET, Trump said that Smith had been “fired” from the DOJ after he “left town empty-handed” without any federal prosecutions against the president-elect.
It was announced that Smith had resigned from the DOJ in court documents submitted on Saturday to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the classified documents case against Trump last July. Cannon ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 because it was not first approved by the Senate.
The DOJ argued that Judge Cannon must not extend her recent court order temporarily blocking the release of Smith’s final report on the Trump investigations. The DOJ said Cannon had overstepped her authority by blocking the report into the classified documents and 2020 election obstruction cases, as the final decision on whether to release it is made by Garland.
The announcement that Smith had “separated” from the DOJ was revealed in a footnote in the court filings. It had been previously reported that Smith would leave his role as special counsel before Trump returns to office on January 20.
Smith is required by DOJ policy to submit a report detailing his findings on the Trump investigations to Garland.
What People Are Saying
President-elect Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “Deranged Jack Smith was fired today by the DOJ. He is a disgrace to himself, his family, and his country. After spending over $100,000,000 on the witch hunt against Trump, he left town empty-handed!”
Justice Department officials stated in Saturday’s court filings: “The special counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10.”
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Jack Smith did his duty. And the public deserves to see the product of his work and that of his team. Before Trump can follow through on his promise to bury it. The system of justice failed to treat Donald Trump as any other defendant and deliver timely justice. But it is not too late to deliver the measure of accountability that comes from disclosure.”
What Happens Next
Cannon’s ban on Smith’s report being released currently expires on Monday.
Garland has said he will partially release Smith’s report on the investigation into the events that led up to the January 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021.
The attorney general said he will not release Smith’s classified documents report to Trump to avoid prejudicing the president-elect’s defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who are still facing charges related to alleged obstruction.
Trump could order his pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, to dismiss the case against Nauta and De Oliveira once she is in office.
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