Attorney General Merrick Garland will announce on Friday that he is appointing a special counsel to take over two major criminal investigations involving former President Donald J. Trump, including his role in events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and his handling of sensitive government documents.
Garland’s announcement comes on the heels Trump’s declaration of his candidacy for the presidency in 2024. It is believed that Donald Trump made an unprecedentedly early announcement in order to make it more difficult for prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against him and Garland’s move will forestall developments that might jeopardize the investigations.
The appointment of a special counsel by the Justice Department is a way to insulate its investigations against Mr. Trump from political considerations. While special counsels can be fired from their positions, the process is much more arduous than removing ordinary prosecutors from a case.
Special counsels are semi-independent prosecutors who by Justice Department regulations can be appointed for high-level investigations when there can be a conflict of interest, or the appearance of it. They exercise greater day-to-day autonomy than regular United States attorneys, but are ultimately still subject to the control of the attorney general.
