Prosecutor behind Trump case leaves Justice Department

The special prosecutor who investigated the two federal proceedings against Donald Trump, Jack Smith, left the Department of Justice after submitting his report, drawing taunts from the US president-elect on Sunday.

The special prosecutor completed his work and submitted his confidential final report on January 7, 2025, before leaving the department on January 10officials said in a document presented Saturday to federal Judge Aileen Cannon. They urged the judge not to extend her order from last week blocking the release of Smith’s final report.

The special prosecutor recommended and obtained at the end of November a halt to federal proceedings against Donald Trump for illegal attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and for withholding classified documents after his departure from the White House.

Mr. Trump, who is due to take office on January 20 at the White House, suggested in a publication on the night of Saturday to Sunday on his platform Truth Social that Jack Smith, the prime target of his attacks, had been licensed by the Department of Justice.

He is a disgrace to himself, his family and his country. After spending over $100 million on the witch hunt against TRUMP, he left town empty-handed!

After consultations, the Justice Department concluded that its policy since the Watergate scandal in 1973 of not prosecuting a sitting president, applies to this situation unprecedented, he explained.

On the other hand, he finalized and sent his confidential report to the Minister of Justice on January 7 on his investigation of these two files.

The minister plans to make public the volume of the report on accusations of electoral interference in 2020 and transmit it to Congress.

However, he indicated that he would not publish the volume relating to the retention of classified documents by Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property after his departure from the White House. And this, in order not to cause harm to his two co-defendants who remain prosecuted in this case, his two personal assistants.

This court temporarily blocked the publication of the report, at the request of Donald Trump’s two co-defendants, but the Department of Justice appealed this decision.