Trump Transition
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Mr. Smith, a special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, had signaled that he would step down before Donald J. Trump’s inauguration.
Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer
Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two unsuccessful federal prosecutions against President-elect Donald J. Trump, resigned his post this week, according to an announcement buried in the footnote of a legal filing.
Mr. Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor who lost a protracted battle with the Trump legal team in appellate courts and the Supreme Court, left his offices in Washington on Friday, according to a senior law enforcement official.
His departure was expected. Mr. Smith had signaled his intention to leave before Mr. Trump, who had threatened to fire him, took office on Jan. 20. His final week was marked, fittingly enough, by one more legal setback at the hands of Judge Aileen M. Cannon, the Trump-appointed district court judge presiding over the Florida documents case, who temporarily blocked public release of his final report.
The high-stakes saga ended with a single line at the bottom of Page 10 in a filing to Judge Cannon: “The special counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on Jan. 7, 2025, and separated from the department on Jan. 10.”
Glenn Thrush covers the Department of Justice and has also written about gun violence, civil rights and conditions in the country’s jails and prisons. More about Glenn Thrush
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump. More about Alan Feuer
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