The Office of Special Counsel is investigating whether Smith’s conduct, in his efforts to prosecute Trump, constituted improper political activity.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has launched an investigation into former Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two separate federal criminal cases against former President Donald Trump during the Biden administration, between Trump’s two presidential terms.
On Aug. 2, the Office of Special Counsel confirmed it was investigating whether Smith’s conduct through his efforts to prosecute Trump constituted a form of improper political activity. The office is an independent federal agency separate from the DOJ, tasked with protecting federal whistleblowers and enforcing civil service law, such as the Hatch Act restricting political activities by federal employees. The office has no criminal enforcement power but does investigate violations and has the authority to impose fines and other sanctions.
In November 2022, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland named Smith as DOJ special counsel, tasked with leading criminal investigations into Trump. Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 on charges of mishandling classified information after his first presidential term ended in 2021. Smith indicted Trump again two months later, alleging the president committed crimes in his attempts to challenge the 2020 election results.
Smith dropped both criminal cases in November 2024, just weeks after Trump won his bid to return to the White House. He resigned from his special counsel post on Jan. 10, days after submitting a final report regarding his investigations.
The Office of Special Counsel announced its investigation three days after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called on the office to probe Smith for partisan election interference.
In a July 30 letter to the office, Cotton alleged Smith pursued his criminal cases against Trump on an expedited timeline, attempting to bring the cases to trial in the opening phase of the 2024 election cycle.
“After filing the indictment against President Trump on Aug. 10, 2023, Smith demanded the trial start Jan. 2, 2024, with jury selection beginning as early as Dec. 11, 2023,” Cotton wrote in one bullet-point example.
“Defendants in these types of cases typically have more than two years to prepare for trial, but President Trump’s defense team had fewer than six months to review 13 million pages of evidence and thousands of hours of video footage provided by prosecutors. Notably, jury selection was to begin just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses.”
Cotton also noted that Smith pushed his cases forward in September 2024 with just weeks to go before the 2024 Election Day.
By Ryan Morgan
