The Special Prosecutor appointed to oversee the investigation into Donald Trump has a background of prosecuting ‘sensitive’ issues ranging from corruption to genocide. Now he has Donald Trump.
Smith is to be in charge of supervising the criminal investigation into whether or not an individual or entity interfered with the transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election as well as the probe into whether classified records and documents taken from Trump’s Florida home.
The announcement of Smith’s appointment by Merrick Garland comes three days after Trump launched his third run for the White House and is apparently designed to avoid any perceived conflict of interest on Garland’s part.
Trump has said that he will not “partake” in the special counsel’s probes. “It is not acceptable. It is so unfair. It is so political,” he told Fox News.
Who Is Jack Smith?
Jack Smith is the recently appointed appointed special counsel, currently served at Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in the International Criminal Court at The Hague, Netherlands, where he investigates war crimes cases.
Previously, he worked as the chief of the Public Integrity Section for the US Department of Justice from 2010 and 2015.
The Department of Justice said that Smith conducted what they said was “sensitive investigations” of foreign government members, militia and others accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other such offences.
His work with the DoJ involved his handling cases like bribing government officials and election crimes, investigating and prosecuting elected and appointed officials.
In 2015 Smith and his legal team prosecuted Virginia’s former governor Robert McDonnell on various corruption charges and also CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling for obstruction of justice and leaking classified information.
When he left the DoJ in 2015 he served as the First Assistant United States Attorney and Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
He then worked in the private sector, serving as the vice president and head of litigation for the Hospital Corporation of America; the nation’s largest non-government health care providers.
