Special counsel who led Trump prosecutions leaves US Justice Dept

 Special counsel Jack Smith arrives to speak to members of the media at the US Department of Justice building in Washington, DC, on August 1, 2023. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON — Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trump for his alleged effort to overturn results of the 2020 election, has left the US Department of Justice, prosecutors said Saturday in a court filing.

“The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10,” officials said in the document submitted to US District Judge Aileen Cannon, urging her to not extend her order last week blocking the release of Smith’s final report.

The statement on Smith was a footnote in the filing to Cannon as she mulls whether to maintain a hold on the special counsel’s report on two cases: Trump’s role in the January 6, 2020 insurrection at the US Capitol aimed at halting certification of Joe Biden’s victory, and the case of Trump’s withholding of classified documents after he left the White House.

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With the hold set to expire in the coming days, and Cannon considering an extension, the protracted legal fight over the report on Trump-related cases is coming down to the week or so before he is inaugurated as America’s 47th president on January 20.

Smith had accused Trump of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, the session of Congress called to certify Biden’s election win but which was violently attacked on January 6 by a mob of the Republican leader’s supporters.

Smith dropped the cases against Trump after he won November’s presidential election.

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On January 7, the special counsel finalized his confidential report to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the Justice Department said this week that Garland plans to publicly release the findings.

Department officials have argued that Cannon does not have the power to block the attorney general from releasing Smith’s report.