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Jack Smith, the special counsel who led two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, has resigned from the Justice Department before the president-elect takes office later this month.
According to a court filing filed Saturday, Mr. Smith was “separated from the Department” on Friday.
CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, reported in November Smith said he would leave the Department of Justice after his tenure.
Mr. Smith’s departure comes amid controversy over the release of his report on Trump’s discovery of classified documents.
Mr. Smith was appointed in 2022 as a special counsel to oversee two Trump Justice Department cases: one for the alleged improper collection of classified documents and the other for an alleged attempt to interfere with the outcome of the 2020 election.
Both cases resulted in criminal charges against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty and the charges were politically motivated.
Mr. Smith’s lawsuit against the president-elect was closed last year after Trump won the presidential election. The prosecutor wrote that Justice Department regulations prohibit the prosecution of the president.
CBS reported in November that Mr. Smith’s resignation was expected because it would allow him to leave his post without being fired by Trump or the incoming attorney general.
The exit means that Trump leaves without seeing the trial.
Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon – who oversaw the classified documents case and controversially dismissed it last July. temporarily banned Mr. Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland for “releasing, sharing or broadcasting” the report on the case.
Trump’s legal team received a draft of the report last weekend and it was expected to be released as soon as Friday.
Judge Cannon’s move comes after lawyers for Trump’s former co-defendants – Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveir – asked to intervene. Both men pleaded not guilty.
Judge Cannon was ordered released pending an emergency appeal by a higher appeals court, the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, by Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveir.
By law, special counsels must submit the findings of their investigations to the Department of Justice, which leads the Attorney General’s Office. Garland has promised to release all reports to the public and so far has done so.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Mr. Smith did not have the legal authority to file the classified documents report because he was chosen to do the unconstitutional job and was politically motivated.
Trump’s legal team also wrote to Garland not to release the report, urging him to stop “weaponizing the justice system.”
On Friday, a judge sentenced Trump “unconditional discharge” in a criminal bribery case, meaning he has been spared jail time and a fine, but will still take office as the first US president with a felony conviction.
