Jack Smith, who has almost 30 years of experience as a criminal prosecutor under his belt, was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to serve as an independent special counsel overseeing parallel investigations being conducted by the Justice Department into Donald Trump’s hoarding of top secret documents and involvement in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.
Smith will be responsible for supervising these investigations.
Smith served in the past as the chief of public integrity for the United States Department of Justice. In this role, he was specifically responsible for handling matters involving corruption and was responsible for bringing cases against famous Republicans and Democrats. In 2015,
the United States Department of Justice assigned him to the position of first assistant US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. He does not identify with either of the two major political parties in the United States and is therefore a registered independent.
He has served as the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court in The Hague, the city on the North Sea that serves as the national administrative center of the Netherlands, since 2018. In that capacity, he has overseen the investigation and adjudication of war crimes that took place in Kosovo, which is located in the Balkans.
Career Of Jack Smith
Jack Smith has almost 30 years of experience working as a prosecutor and has presided over a number of high-profile cases throughout that time. Throughout his career, he was able to successfully prosecute a sitting senator in the United States and bring cases against members of gangs who were responsible for the murder of New York City police officers. In the end, the members of the gang were found guilty.
His most recent position was that of chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, which is located in The Hague. Greg Andres, who worked for the former special counsel Robert Mueller and indicated that Smith knew how to handle “high-profile cases,” added that Smith could make difficult decisions and endure public scrutiny as a result of his extensive expertise.
Smith began his career in the legal field in New York City in 1994, working as an assistant district attorney there. In 1999, he served in that capacity for the United States Attorney’s Office in the.
Smith began his employment with the International Criminal Court in 2008 and spent the next two years supervising war crimes investigations for the Office of the Prosecutor.
Before his appointment as first assistant US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee in 2015, he served as chief of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section from 2010 to 2015.
Smith is recognized as a dedicated public servant, despite his relatively low profile in the DC legal community.
He took headed the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section around ten years ago and oversaw the hiring of scores of new prosecutors.
Smith’s new hire at the unit, Brian Kidd, recounted how his supervisor had patiently explained the ins and outs of a complex racketeering case involving corrupt police officers.
He “was not going to allow a politically driven prosecution,” Kidd said. And he has an extraordinary knack for inspiring those who work for and report to him. Whenever his team needs him, he’s there for them.
With uneven results, Smith handled some of the most high-profile cases of political corruption in recent history.
A person acquainted with the case claims that he was the chief of the public integrity section when then-Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell was indicted in 2014, and that he participated in meetings with the defense team and made decisions leading up to the charges.
The Supreme Court reversed McDonnell’s conviction on charges of accepting gifts in exchange for favorable treatment during the course of his political career.
Also Read:
- John Fetterman Height And Weight Everything You Need To Know
- Chris Tucker Is Still Alive And Well In 2022
Smith Interviewed As Part Of Republican-Led IRS Probe
As part of the Republican-led investigation into the alleged IRS targeting of conservative groups, the House Oversight Committee conducted an interview with Smith behind closed doors in May 2014. After an inspector general report in 2013 identified delays in processing applications by some conservative groups and requested information from them that was later deemed superfluous, then-Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa initiated the investigation.
Since Republican lawmakers suspected that Public Integrity division leader Smith arranged a meeting between Justice Department officials and IRS official Lois Lerner in 2010, they wanted to hear from him. According to a letter drafted in May 2014 by Issa and Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who is expected to become House Judiciary chairman next year, the meeting had been called to discuss the “evolving legal landscape” of campaign finance law in the wake of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
Issa and Jordan wrote to Smith requesting his testimony after Citizens United and political pressure from prominent Democrats to address perceived problems with the decision. They claimed that “it is apparent that the Department’s leadership, including Public Integrity Section Chief Jack Smith, was closely involved in engaging with the IRS.”
During his interview with CNN, Smith said that after his meeting with Lerner, his office “had a dialogue” with the FBI about launching investigations linked to politically active non-profits, but eventually decided against doing so.
Smith stated that he was new to the public integrity department and had requested the meeting with the IRS in order to have a better understanding of the legal environment of political non-profits in the wake of the Citizens United ruling. According to him, Lerner claimed it would be extremely challenging, if not impossible, to pursue a case based on the abuse of tax-exempt status.
Throughout the conversation, Smith reiterated that political considerations were the primary reason no investigations were pursued by the Justice Department.
Final Words
Independent special counsel Jack Smith, a veteran criminal prosecutor of nearly 30 years, was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to oversee parallel Justice Department investigations into Donald Trump’s hoarding of top secret documents and involvement in the 6 January 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.
