Special prosecutor who completed two investigations into Trump resigns
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has completed his work on two criminal investigations into US President-elect Donald Trump and resigned. This was reported by the newspaper Politico on January 11.
It is specified that the news of Smith's resignation appeared in a footnote to a lawsuit filed by U.S. Justice Department officials with U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon on the afternoon of January 11, in which they urged not to extend a court order temporarily blocking the release of the final report that Smith submitted to the department's leadership on Tuesday.
Department officials said Cannon's order exceeded her authority because she has no authority to prevent Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing Smith's findings. Her ban on disclosing the report is currently in effect until Monday.
That said, Garland has said he plans to release only the portion of Smith's report that covers the investigation into Trump's attempts to undermine the 2020 election.
"Smith's departure concludes one of the most unusual and tumultuous chapters in the Justice Department's history, leading to the filing of serious criminal charges against Trump - the first former president to face trial," the publication reads.
Earlier, on January 8, The Washington Post reported that a U.S. court temporarily blocked the publication of a report on the results of investigations into the president-elect by special prosecutor Jack Smith. At the same time, Trump asked the court to postpone the verdict in the case of forgery of financial documents.
The day before, Judge Juan Merchan refused to postpone Trump's sentencing in the case, scheduled for January 10. It is reported that the defendant's motion to stay the proceedings, including sentencing, has been canceled.
Before this, on January 3, Trump called the judge's decision to schedule his sentencing for January 10 a farce. He also clarified that the judge's decision violated the statute of limitations and the U.S. Constitution.
On December 4, 2024, Trump urged a New York court to dismiss his case about the connection with Daniels, referring to the decision of White House head Joe Biden to pardon his son Hunter Biden.
According to the prosecution's version, Trump became intimate with porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2006, and in 2016 his lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130 thousand in exchange for a nondisclosure agreement. After his election to the presidency, Trump reimbursed Cohen's financial spending by disguising the payments as legal fees. The checks totaled $420,000.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty in the case of forgery of financial documents. The President-elect himself said after the meeting that it was nothing more than falsification, behind which is the current head of state Joe Biden, who wants in this way to get rid of the main rival in the now past elections. Later, Trump called the jury's decision on the first case a scam and pointed out that now every American is at risk of criminal prosecution.
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