Attorney General Garland names special counsel Jack Smith

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday named former federal prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel for 2 pending criminal investigations by the Department of Justice of former President Donald Trump.

Smith’s appointment got here three days after Trump, a Republican, announced plans to run for president in 2024.

Trump’s move directly led to Garland’s decison to appoint a special counsel.

One case that Smith will handle is targeted on whether Trump broke the law and obstructed justice in connection together with his removal of tons of of documents from the White House, which were shipped to his residence at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

The opposite probe is said to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by a mob of Trump supporters.

Along with previously serving as a profession DOJ prosector, Smith most recently was serving as chief prosecutor for the special court within the Hague, within the Netherlands. In that post, which he resigned to take the special counsel post, he investigated war crimes in Kosovo.

Garland revealed the appointment during a public statement from the DOJ.

“It’s in the general public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution based on recent developments including the previous president’s announcement that he’s a candidate for president in the subsequent election and the sitting presidents stated intention to be a candidate as well,” Garland said.

The attorney general said that he was “confident” that the appointment “won’t slow the completion of those investigations.”

“I’ll make sure that the Special Counsel receives the resources to conduct this work quickly and completely,” Garland said.

Garland’s appointment of a special counsel could tamp down concerns that he would have a conflict of interest if he were the one to determine whether Trump must be proecuted. The attorney general was appointed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat who defeated Trump in his 2020 re-election bid.

Biden could again face Trump again within the 2024 election.

A White House official told NBC News on Friday, “DOJ makes decisions about its criminal investigations independently, and we are usually not involved, so I’d refer you to DOJ for any questions on this.” 

Barbara McQuade, an NBC News legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, in a Time magazine article on Thursday argued against the thought of a special counsel being appointed within the Trump probes, saying it could potentially delay prosecution so long that he would avoid being held accountable for potential crimes.

“Practical consideration also militate against appointing a special counsel: time,” McQuade wrote.

“Appointing a latest lawyer to take over the investigation will create delay. A latest lawyer would wish to rent his own staff, all of whom would wish time to get on top of things,” she wrote.

“If Trump is looking for to regain the Oval Office, then DOJ must complete not only the investigations, however the trials before Jan. 20, 2025. That is when a newly sworn in President Trump could take the last word act of partisanship in prosecution — and pardon himself.”

That is breaking news. Please check back for updates.