Jack Smith appointed a special counsel to investigate Donald Trump

He then used a speech at an event previously held at the Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida to speak out against the decision and call for an equal inquiry into other former leaders and opponents.

In his only public appearance that day, Mr. Biden did not respond to heated questions from reporters about the appointment. An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the White House was not involved in the decision to appoint Mr. Smith.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Jack Smith on Friday.credit:bloomberg

A politically independent, Smith until recently served as the chief prosecutor of the Hague Special Court tasked with prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo. He previously oversaw the Public Interest Division of the Justice Department and worked as a federal and state prosecutor in New York.

It’s the first time in five years that the Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump’s actions. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was named a special counsel in 2017, documented Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and his contacts with Russia, but provided insufficient evidence to charge him with conspiracy. discovered.

FBI agents seized thousands of government records from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home during a court-approved August 8 raid. I’m looking into Trump filed a civil lawsuit to slow the investigation of the documents and keep some records away from investigators.

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Another investigation, an extensive probe into a failed conspiracy by Trump allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election, submitted a false electoral roster to the U.S. National Archives to ensure Congress won Biden’s election victory. I’m trying to stop you from proving it.

A grand jury is reviewing evidence in the case, and prosecutors have issued subpoenas seeking testimony from a former top White House attorney and an aide to Vice President Mike Pence.

Garland will ultimately have power over the special counsel, but Smith’s appointment will allow Garland to create political distance and increase public confidence in the integrity of the two investigations. A career prosecutor is expected to continue the investigation with Smith.

Smith recently underwent surgery after injuring his knee in a bicycle accident. He didn’t attend the press conference.

The criminal and civil state and federal investigations against Trump also include a civil lawsuit filed by the New York Attorney General, accusing him and his three adult children of fraud related to the family’s real estate business. It has been.

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Smith is the Justice Department’s third special counsel for politically sensitive cases since 2017. Mueller did not come to a firm conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, and then-Attorney General William Barr ruled that such charges were baseless.

In 2019, Verr appointed John Durham as special counsel to investigate the origins of the 2016 FBI investigation into the Trump campaign. Of the three criminal charges Durham has filed against him, two have been acquitted of him this year.

Reuters

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/disgraceful-trump-furious-that-war-crimes-expert-will-head-probes-20221119-p5bzlw.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_world Jack Smith appointed a special counsel to investigate Donald Trump

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