WASHINGTON – Lawyers for Donald Trump have asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to not release a special counsel’s report setting out its investigations into the US president-elect. Jack Smith led two probes into Trump, one on alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and another on his apparent mishandling of classified documents. Both cases have been shelved, but Mr Smith’s detailed report was due to be released in the coming days. But in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Trump’s lawyers have urged him to end the “weaponisation of the justice system” and hand the report to them. The correspondence alleges Mr Smith did not have the legal authority to submit the report because he was unconstitutionally picked to do the job and was politically motivated. Mr Smith is yet to publicly respond.
Trump’s legal team received a draft copy of the report at the weekend. The two investigations led to criminal indictments against Trump but both have since been dismissed, partly due to a longstanding DoJ policy not to prosecute a sitting president. The former president had pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing. Federal regulations decree that any special counsel probe must conclude with a report to the justice department and Garland has previously said he would release all such reports.
During his time away from the White House, Trump faced an array of legal cases, which were successfully delayed and thwarted by his lawyers and allies. The administration of the Democratic president, Joe Biden, faced accusations from Trump’s opponents that they brought cases against the Republican too slowly, while Trump’s supporters argued that the prosecutions were politically motivated. One of Mr Smith’s two cases concerned Trump’s attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the case ended up in legal limbo after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump was partially immune from criminal prosecution over official acts committed while in office. Mr Smith later refiled his case, but wound it down after Trump’s 2024 election win. He was also leading a case against Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House following his first presidency – charges that Trump also denied.
This case faced a roadblock of its own when the Trump-appointed judge dismissed the charges, arguing Mr Smith was improperly appointed to lead the case. Again, Mr Smith hit back – this time with an appeal – but later abandoned this, too. DoJ guidance prevents the criminal prosecution of a sitting president. Mr Smith clarified that this legal protection also applied to the prosecution of a private citizen who was subsequently elected president. The news was celebrated by the Trump campaign, which hailed it as a “major victory for the rule of law”. Mr Smith is also reportedly expected to leave his job before Trump returns to the White House on 20 January and carries out a threat of sacking him.
Despite his recent legal wins, Trump still faces sentencing on Friday after being found guilty in New York last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments made to a porn star. With less than two weeks until Trump is re-inaugurated as US president, the judge has refused a request to delay, although he has previously made clear he will not consider giving Trump a custodial term. (BBC)
Photo: Jack Smith. (Reuters)
