Special counsel resigns after reporting on Trump probes

Special Counsel Jack Smith separated from the U.S. Department of Justice on Jan. 10, prosecutors wrote in a court document filed Saturday. Smith’s departure came after he provided U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland with a two-volume final report about his dual investigations into President-elect Donald Trump. Smith was hired in late 2022 to investigate the president-elect over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Both cases were eventually dismissed.

Trump on Sunday repeated his criticisms of Smith as someone illegitimately involved in a political prosecution as Trump ran for office. The DOJ has continually defended its appointment of Smith.

So when will Smith’s report be released? The volume of the report dealing with allegations of election interference could be released to the public, according to the DOJ. The first volume of the report could reach the public on Monday. The DOJ said in a court filing last week that it could release the report anytime after 10 a.m. last Friday. But U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon in a decision temporarily blocking the DOJ from releasing the report said the attorney general had to delay its publication until at least three days after an appeals court decided he could release it—unless the appeals court decided otherwise. The appeals court ruled that the department could release the report but did not strike down the three-day delay ordered by Cannon.

The other, dealing with the case about handling classified documents, will remain under wraps while two of Trump’s former co-defendants in that case face trial. 

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how a judge determined that the DOJ could release part of Smith’s report about his investigations of Trump.