The US Department of Justice on Friday appointed an independent prosecutor to take over criminal investigations against former President Donald Trump. Jack Smith will be responsible for investigating possible misuse of top secret White House documents and the Republican’s role in relation to the invasion of the Capitol on January 6 last year.
The appointment was made three days after Trump announced his pre-candidacy for the presidency for the 2024 elections, in a decision that also seeks to constrain investigations that he is the target of. According to the US Secretary of Justice, Merrick Garland, the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate issues sensitive to the republican has become necessary with the movement of recent days.
“The appointment reinforces the department’s commitment to independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” Garland said, according to The New York Times.
The former president criticized the choice and said that the Justice Department’s decision is “political” and “unfair”. Throughout the investigations, Trump has claimed to be the victim of persecution and what he calls a “witch hunt” — he denies wrongdoing in the cases in which he is investigated.
Smith is currently chief prosecutor of the Hague Tribunal, which investigates war crimes. Previously, he oversaw the Public Integrity Section of the US Department of Justice and worked as a federal and state attorney in New York.
In a statement, the special counsel stressed his commitment to conducting investigations and any developments “independently and in accordance with the best traditions of the Department of Justice.” He also pledged efforts for the processes to move forward quickly.
The White House was not involved in Smith’s selection, according to Reuters news agency, citing a source on condition of anonymity. After the announcement, President Joe Biden avoided answering questions about the nomination.
Trump has been the target of attacks made by authorities in recent months. In August, FBI agents, the US federal police, raided the former president’s property in Florida in search of materials he took from the White House, including boxes with confidential documents.
Earlier, in February, the National Archives of the White House had to send to the former president’s Florida home for 15 boxes of documents that had been improperly removed from the headquarters of the American Executive. They contained correspondence exchanged with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, among other papers. The Republican has been accused on several occasions of destroying documents while occupying the Presidency to avoid future investigations.
On another front against the former president, authorities are investigating Trump’s involvement in the events that led to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. As part of the investigation, the Justice Department began hearing people close to the republican as witnesses.
On the occasion, a mob of supporters inflated by the politician invaded the Capitol building seeking to interrupt Joe Biden’s victory certification session in the election. Trump claimed —and continues to do so today— that the election would have been rigged; American Justice has never found any evidence that this could have happened.
Attacks on Trump are unusual in recent US history. When fellow Republican Richard Nixon resigned as president in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, he received from his vice and successor, Gerald Ford, “a full, free and absolute pardon for all crimes” that he “committed or may have committed or participated” during the mandate.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
