A former war crimes prosecutor has been appointed as a special counsel to oversee the investigation into former US President Donald Trump.
Jack Smith, a career prosecutor, to look into allegations of mishandling of classified documents at Trump’s Florida home and his role leading to the murder January 6 assault on the Capitol.
The appointment was announced by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, who said it was in the “public interest”. From Mr. Trump announcement that he intends to run again for president.
Mr. Garland, whose Justice Department has been conducting an investigation for months, has been named head of the department by President Joe Biden.
The appointment of a special counsel is designed to address Trump’s loudly and regularly articulated suspicions of political bias in the investigation.
During a press conference announcing the move, the attorney general said, “It is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently handle an investigation and prosecution based on recent developments, including the announcement of the former president to run for president in the forthcoming election and also the stated intention of the incumbent president to run.”
Smith, who most recently served as a war crimes prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, will be engaged in two main areas of investigation.
One is to verify whether anyone, including Trump, illegally interfered with the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election or with the certification of the Electoral College vote in favor of President Biden on January 6, 2021.
The other focuses on Mt Trump’s removal of hundreds of documents from the White House, which were moved to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Mr. Smith will examine whether the former president broke the law in handling confidential documents and whether he obstructed justice by preventing access to those documents. Eventually he will report his findings to Mr. Garland.
A veteran prosecutor who headed the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in Washington and later served as interim federal prosecutor in Nashville, Tennessee during the Obama administration, Mr. Smith will begin his job “immediately.” , according to Mr. Garland.
The Justice Department has described Mr. Smith as a registered independent, in an effort to blunt any bouts of alleged political bias.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about the nomination, Trump said, “It’s not even believable that he’s allowed to do that. This is the worst politicization of justice in our country.
“Hunter Biden is a criminal many times and nothing happens to him. Joe Biden is a criminal many times and nothing happens to him.
“It’s unfair to the country, to the Republican Party, and I don’t think people should accept that. I’m not going to accept that.”
