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CV NEWS FEED // Sources close to Jack Smith revealed on Wednesday that the special counsel plans to finish his reports on Donald Trump and resign before the incoming president has the opportunity to fire him after taking office on January 20.
According to a report from the New York Times, the sources said Smith was eager “to not leave any significant part of his work for others to complete and to get ahead of the president-elect’s promise to fire him within ‘two seconds’ of being sworn in.”
The Department of Justice still requires Smith to submit a report of his findings in each case even though they never went to trial. Smith has announced his current status with the cases and stated that he needs a month “to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
Smith has been handling two cases against Trump for the past two years: one related to the mishandling of classified documents, and a second case revolving around charges related to “conspiracy” to obstruct an election. Both cases have faced intense scrutiny by the public, many of whom believe them to represent an abuse of the justice system.
However, the DOJ and the internal Office of Legal Counsel have a standing policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, ultimately leaving Smith’s pending cases void.
According to the Times,
Department regulations call for him to file a report summarizing his investigation and decisions — a document that may stand as the final accounting from a prosecutor who filed extensive charges against a former president but never got his cases to trial.
Smith has been under fire by Trump and Republican lawmakers for using the DOJ to target the now-president-elect, and on Friday, following Smith’s announcement, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-OH, and Representative Barry Loudermilk, R-GA, sent a formal letter to Smith asking him to retain all his records and those of his office while he winds down his cases.
“According to recent public reports, prosecutors in your office have been ‘gaming out legal options’ in the event that President Donald Trump won the election,” the letter began:
With President Trump’s decisive victory this week, we are concerned that the Office of Special Counsel may attempt to purge relevant records, communications, and documents responsive to our numerous requests for information. The Office of Special Counsel is not immune from transparency or above accountability for its actions.
The letter continued to outline all of the means of communication and records that should be retained while Smith takes a month to prepare his reports and retire before Trump takes office:
Furthermore, this letter serves as a formal request to preserve all existing and future records and materials related to the Office of Special Counsel’s investigations and prosecutions of President Trump. You should construe this preservation notice as an instruction to take all reasonable steps to prevent the destruction or alteration, whether intentionally or negligently, of all documents, communications, and other information, including electronic information and metadata, that are or may be responsive to this congressional inquiry. This instruction includes all electronic messages sent using official and personal accounts or devices, including records created using text messages, phone-based message applications, or encryption software.
