Jack Smith, who led Trump prosecutions, leaves US Justice Department

Before the Republican president-elect is re-elected for a second term on January 20, Special Counsel Jack Smith, who handled two federal cases against Donald Trump, has left the US Department of Justice.

Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat are both alleged to have included mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House. In both cases, Smith was in charge.

According to officials, “The Special Counsel finished his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and left the Department on January 10,” according to the document that was sent to US District Judge Aileen Cannon after she urged her last week not to request that her order be extended so that Smith’s final report be released.

As she considers whether to keep a hold on the special counsel’s report on two cases, Smith’s statement was a footnote in the filing to Cannon.

A former war crimes prosecutor, Smith was appointed in November 2022 – nearly two years after the US Capitol attack – to lead the Justice Department’s twin ongoing investigations into Trump.

After a Trump-appointed judge in Florida dismissed one of his four criminal cases, he brought them to a halt after the US Supreme Court determined that former presidents enjoy sweeping immunity from prosecution for official acts. Neither case went to trial.

In response to Trump’s victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on November 5, Smith dropped both cases, citing a longstanding Justice Department rule prohibiting prosecuting sitting presidents. In asking courts to dismiss the charges, Smith’s team defended the merits of the cases they had brought, signalling only that Trump’s impending return to the White House made them untenable.

Smith’s departure is yet another indicator of the waning criminal cases against Trump, which could result in a backlash that helped fuel his political ascendancy.