Special Counsel Jack Smith to Resign Before Inauguration – But There’s a Catch
Special counsel Jack Smith and his team plan to resign before Trump’s inauguration. Smith was behind two federal criminal cases against Trump before his election victory.
During his two years in office, the special counsel insisted that Trump, then ex-president, was not above the law, and a week before the election, Smith was still pursuing election interference charges against the former president.
However, Trump’s victory put Smith’s plans to put the former and incoming president behind bars in disarray.
According to a 1973 judicial policy reaffirmed in 2000, the Justice Department cannot charge a sitting president. Thus, Trump’s victory in the 2024 election mooted the two cases, making them impossible for Smith to pursue further.
Similarly, a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling extended a former president’s immunity from prosecution for actions taken within his constitutional authority. The ruling, described as a “BIG WIN” by Trump, gave the former president more leeway should an overzealous prosecutor wish to resuscitate the cases or pursue additional charges.
According to the New York Times, Smith intends to close the cases before leaving office. However, his departure could take longer than anticipated, giving Trump the long-awaited opportunity to fire him.
Reasons being, closing ongoing criminal cases is a complicated process requiring many considerations including scrutinizing previous judicial rulings. The special counsel must also make a final report on the cases and hand it to the U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who could decide to make it public before Trump’s inauguration.
With Trump promising to fire him “within two seconds” of taking office, Smith could find himself on the defensive if he fails to leave before the inauguration.
“It’s so easy — I would fire him within two seconds,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team believes the ongoing criminal cases were already a forgone conclusion. Trump’s Lawyer James Trusty even accused the Department of Department of being reluctant to close the cases.
“My instinct is they would rather sit in status quo or largely status quo, rather than affirmatively pull the plug,” Trusty noted.
“Politically, I think they would rather have the new Trump administration’s fingerprints on the demise of the cases.”
In light of Trump’s landslide victory, Smith has already requested “the Court to vacate the remaining deadlines in the pretrial schedule to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance.”
The submission relates to Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He faced allegations of election interference which included claims of fraud and attempts to disenfranchise American voters. The Court granted Smith until December 2 to decide on how to proceed on the election interference case.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has already dismissed a case in Florida, in which Trump was accused of alleged mishandling of government documents.
However, unless the Department of Justice moves fast to conclude the remaining cases, Smith could stay long enough for Trump to fire him.
“You wait. The hunted are about to become the hunters,” Bannon told Smith, Garland, Letitia James, and others involved in Trump’s prosecution.
