Special counsel Jack Smith, who filed charges against Donald Trump in the investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on Capitol Hill and top-secret documents found in the Mar-a-Lago estate, submitted his resignation to the Department of Justice Friday afternoon.
First to report the news was Politico, which writes that, while reporting Smith’s resignation Saturday afternoon, Department of Justice officials asked Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon not to extend the order issued last week blocking the release of Smith’s final report on the two cases. Before resigning, the special counsel finished his work by submitting the final document on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
This is no surprise, however. Smith had already expressed his intention to resign before Trump would be entering the White House. And charges against the president-elect had been filed soon after his victory in the Nov. 5 election. The only trials still pending are against the two Mar-a-Lago staffers involved in the classified documents episode.
In the memo sent to Cannon, Justice Department officials criticized her, arguing that she would overstep her authority with her order, succumbing to pressure from the president-elect’s lawyers. Trump’s lawyers have reportedly demanded that Attorney General Merrick Garland not release Smith’s final document and that he discharge the special counsel from his post.
The final word at this point rests with Garland.
