Jack Smith, the special prosecutor 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 the court filing submitted on Saturday, Mr. Smith “separated from the Ministry” on Friday.
CBS News, the US media partner of the BBC, reported in November that Smith will resign from the Department of Justice after completing his work.
Smith’s departure comes amid a dispute over the release of his report on the findings of Trump’s classified documents case.
Mr. Smith was appointed as a special prosecutor in 2022 to oversee two Justice Department cases against Trump — one over the alleged improper hoarding of classified documents and the other over an alleged attempt to interfere in the outcome of the 2020 election.
Both cases resulted in criminal charges against Trump, who has pleaded not guilty and tried to characterize the prosecution as politically motivated.
Mr. Smith’s cases against the president-elect were closed last year after Trump won the presidential election. Prosecutors wrote that Justice Department regulations bar the prosecution of the current president.
CBS reported in November that Smith’s resignation was expected because it would allow him to leave his post without being fired by Trump or a future president’s attorney general.
His departure means he leaves without trial for any of his criminal charges against Trump.
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 State Attorney Merrick Garland from “publishing, sharing or transmitting” the case report.
Trump’s legal team received a draft of the report last weekend and it was expected to be released on Friday.
Judge Cannon’s move came after lawyers for Trump’s former co-defendants in the case – Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira – urged her to intervene. Both pleaded not guilty.
Judge Cannon ordered that the release be delayed pending an urgent appeal by Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
According to the law, special prosecutors must present the results of their investigations to the Ministry of Justice, which is headed by the Attorney General. Garland promised to release all reports to the public and so far has done so.
Trump’s lawyers claimed that Mr. Smith had no legal authority to file a report on classified documents because he was unconstitutionally elected to do the job and was politically motivated.
Trump’s legal team also wrote to Garland not to release the report and urged him to stop “weaponizing the justice system.”
On Friday, a judge sentenced Trump to “unconditional release” in a criminal case related to hush money payments, meaning he was spared jail time and a fine, but will still take office as the first US president with a felony conviction.
