On Friday, longtime federal prosecutor Jack Smith was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to head two Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal proceedings related to former President Donald Trump.
Three days after Trump, a Republican, declared his intention to run for president in 2024, Smith was appointed.
If a special counsel was to be appointed, I can think of no-one better suited than Jack Smith. Vast experience prosecuting public corruption cases, treacherous national security violations, and crimes against humanity. Absorbs complex facts instantly. Perfect for Donald Trump.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) November 18, 2022
Garland is Prepping to Take Trump Down
Trump’s action directly influenced Garland’s decision to hire a special counsel to determine if felony proceedings should be filed against the ex-president.
Biden, a Democrat who ran against Trump in 2020 and won, selected the current attorney general. President Biden hasn’t made up his mind about running for reelection in 2024, so Trump may face him again in that race.
Smith’s first order of business is to investigate whether or not anybody, including Trump, illegally obstructed the transition of power after the 2020 election or the confirmation of the Electoral College decision in President Joe Biden’s support on January 6, 2021.
On that day, an angry mob of Trump fans stormed the Capitol building and prevented the Electoral College result from being certified.
Smith will also be in charge of a Department of Justice investigation into whether or not Trump committed illegal acts or obstructed justice by ordering the shipment of hundreds of White House papers to his Mar-a-Lago clubhouse in Palm Beach, Florida.
Mr. Smith, according to Garland, is the best person to resolve these issues in a timely and impartial manner.
Getting Ready For Action
The criminal prosecutions and investigations of those who were present in the Capitol on January 6 will not fall under Smith’s purview. This caseload will remain in the hands of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
THIS IS GOOD! Merrick Garland has appointed war crimes prosecutor Jack Smith as the special counsel to handle the Trump investigation. Trump is f*cked!
— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) November 18, 2022
After a lengthy career as a prosecutor for the DOJ, Smith is currently the lead prosecutor at the special court in The Hague. After leaving that position to become special counsel, he looked into allegations of war crimes in Kosovo.
Smith’s resume also includes senior prosecutor roles at the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Tennessee and Brooklyn, New York, as well as time spent with the International Criminal Court overseeing investigations into war crimes. He got his start in the legal field, working as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan.
Garland made the announcement during a Department of Justice press conference.
When asked if this appointment would delay the conclusion of these investigations, the attorney general said “certain.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign stated in a release that this is run for the course for the feckless, politicized, militarized Department of Justice under Biden.
It’s clear that there is still an obsession with putting Trump behind bars and punishing him for being America First. They can lie all they want, but we see their actions and motives very clearly.
