Special counsel Jack Smith’s mixed history pursuing high-profile politicians
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
November 22, 2022 04:29 PM
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/special-counsel-jack-smith-mixed-history-pursuing-politicians
Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to helm the Biden Justice Department’s investigations of former President Donald Trump, has a mixed track record handling investigations into major political figures.
Smith was the chief of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in the nation’s capital from 2010 until early 2015, leading a team of 30 prosecutors in conducting public corruption cases throughout the United States.
During his years as chief, Smith’s unit garnered a successful conviction against former Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA), which was later unanimously overturned by the Supreme Court, and pursued a case against Democratic vice presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), which resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial. Smith's team also secured a conviction against Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) before he was pardoned by Trump in 2021 and laid the groundwork for what would become the unsuccessful prosecution of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
“Today, I signed an order appointing Jack Smith to serve as special counsel,” Garland announced during his Friday press conference. “The order authorizes him to continue the ongoing investigations into” the Capitol riot and the Mar-a-Lago saga, the attorney general said, “and to prosecute any federal crimes that may arise from those investigations.”
Garland added: “Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner.”
The Justice Department announced that Smith had resigned from his most recent role as chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, where he had been tasked with investigating war crimes in Kosovo.
Before that, Smith served as first assistant U.S. attorney and acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from early 2015 to the summer of 2017.
“I intend to conduct the assigned investigation and any prosecutions that may result from them independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice,” Smith promised Friday. "I will exercise independent judgment and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.”