WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Attorney General named a special counsel on Friday to oversee the Justice Department鈥檚 investigation into the presence of at former President Donald Trump鈥檚 Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election.
The appointment of veteran prosecutor Jack Smith, announced just three days after Trump , is a recognition of the unmistakable political implications of two investigations that involve not only a former president but also a current White House hopeful. It installs a new chain of command over sensitive probes seen as likely to accelerate now that the midterm elections have concluded, with Garland citing Trump's entry into the race and President Joe Biden's stated intention to run again as reasons for Smith's sudden appointment.
鈥淭he Department of Justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public鈥檚 interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,鈥� Garland said from the Justice Department鈥檚 podium.
Trump addressed the news Friday night at an America First Policy Institute gala at Mar-a-Lago, slamming what he described as the 鈥渁ppalling announcement today by the egregiously corrupt Biden administration and their weaponized Department of Justice.鈥�
He called it a 鈥渉orrendous abuse of power鈥� and 鈥渢he latest in a long series of witch hunts,鈥� and insisted he鈥檇 鈥渄one nothing wrong,鈥�
Smith, who led the Justice Department鈥檚 public integrity section in Washington and later served as the acting chief federal prosecutor in Nashville, Tennessee, during the Obama administration, is set to begin his work immediately, Garland said. He has been serving since 2018 as chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, Netherlands, that is tasked with investigating international war crimes.
The Justice Department described Smith as a registered independent, an effort to blunt any attack of perceived political bias. Trump is a Republican, and Biden is a Democrat.
鈥淭hroughout his career, Jack Smith has built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead,鈥� Garland said. 鈥淎s special counsel, he will exercise independent prosecutorial judgment to decide whether charges should be brought.鈥�
鈥淭he extraordinary circumstances here demand it,鈥� Garland said of the appointment.
In a statement released by the Justice Department, Smith said he intended to do his work independently and 鈥渋n the best traditions of the Department of Justice."
鈥淭he pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch," he vowed.
As special counsel, Smith will inherit two ongoing probes that both touch Trump. One concerns potential interference in the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, when Trump allies scrambled for ways to overturn the results of . The other involves the retention of classified documents at Trump鈥檚 Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Mar-a-Lago probe has escalated especially quickly, with prosecutors this month granting immunity to a close Trump ally to secure his testimony before a federal grand jury. Investigators in that case have interviewed a broad range of witnesses and, in court filings, have cited legal concerns over the presence of top-secret materials in Mar-a-Lago despite strict procedures that govern the handling of classified information. They've also alleged efforts to obstruct that probe.
In his role as special counsel, Smith will be empowered to decide whether charges should be brought as part of his investigations and to prosecute any crimes he uncovers. Though Garland as attorney general would retain ultimate oversight of his work, he stressed the independent decision-making that Smith will bring to bear on the job.
The selection of someone from outside the department for the special counsel role was notable given how much emphasis Garland has placed in trying to ensure public confidence in his own workforce of prosecutors following the tumultuous years of the Trump administration, and to reassure Americans that his prosecutors' decisions are based on facts, the evidence and the law and can therefore be trusted.
There also does not seem to be an obvious conflict like the one that prompted the last appointment of a special counsel to handle Trump-related investigations.
The Trump Justice Department in 2017 named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to lead the investigation into , a recognition of the inherent conflict involved in investigating a president who controls the executive branch.
Mueller declined to make a decision on whether Trump had criminally obstructed justice, noting longstanding Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. As a former president, Trump will no longer have that protection.
The special counsel role is the latest in a series of prosecutorial jobs for Smith, who early in his career was an assistant district attorney in New York before later joining the Justice Department.
Lanny Breuer, who led the department鈥檚 criminal division when Smith ran the public integrity section, called Smith 鈥渁n exquisite lawyer and an exquisite prosecutor.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 not political at all,鈥� Breuer said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 straight down the middle.鈥�
Smith grew up in upstate New York and graduated from Harvard Law School. He told The Associated Press in 2010 that he saw the role of a prosecutor as serving people like his parents and others he grew up with in the town of Clay.
鈥淭hey pay their taxes, follow the rules, and they expect their public officials to do the same,鈥� he said then.
He had returned to the Justice Department at the time to oversee the department鈥檚 then-troubled public integrity section, which was battered publicly for failing to turn over exculpatory evidence in the criminal trial of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican. Supporters lauded him as apolitical and hardworking.
During his tenure, his unit brought a series of high-profile cases against elected officials from both political parties. Not all were successful, and not all investigations resulted in criminal charges 鈥� a powerful lesson, Smith told the AP.
When there isn鈥檛 sufficient evidence to bring a case, 鈥測ou have to be able to admit that if it鈥檚 not there, it鈥檚 not there,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 hard for people to do, and having been a prosecutor for 15 years that is something I can do.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Colleen Long, Zeke Miller and Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report.
Eric Tucker And Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press
