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The U.S. Justice Department on Friday named a former war crimes investigator as special counsel to oversee a criminal investigation into Donald Trump, three days after the former president announced he would run for president in 2024.
The dramatic move heralds the prospect of a protracted legal battle in which Trump could claim he is being attacked by Joe Biden’s administration to prevent him from regaining the presidency.
At a news conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of Jack Smith, who until recently was the chief prosecutor in The Hague investigating war crimes in Kosovo, to take over two ongoing federal investigations against Trump.
One focus was the former president’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
The other is an investigation into classified government documents seized by the FBI in an August raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Garland said it would be in the public interest to appoint a special counsel because Republican Trump and his Democratic successor Joe Biden have both expressed interest in running in 2024 — though only Trump has officially announced it so far.
“Appointing a special counsel is the right thing to do at this time,” Garland said. “Such appointments underscore the department’s commitment to independence and accountability on particularly sensitive issues.
“The extraordinary circumstances that arise here require that,” he said, adding that Smith was “the right choice to get these things done in a fair and urgent manner.”
In a statement, Smith, who previously served as head of the Justice Department’s public integrity division, said he would conduct the investigation “independently and in accordance with the best traditions of the Justice Department.”
“The pace of the investigation will not stop or stop under my watch,” he said. “I will exercise independent judgment and will proceed with the investigation promptly and thoroughly, regardless of what the facts and law dictate.”
– Sensitive issues –
Trump’s campaign for the White House on Tuesday makes prosecuting him a more delicate matter.
Appointing an independent counsel to oversee both investigations could help shield Garland, a Biden appointee, from allegations that the investigations were politically motivated.
The special counsel will decide whether the former president, who claims to be a victim of political persecution, should face any charges related to both investigations.
The special counsel will still report to the attorney general, who has the final say on whether charges should be brought.
Trump, 76, could still run for president even if charged — and there is nothing in U.S. law that prohibits someone who has been charged or convicted of a crime from doing so.
While in office, special counsel Robert Mueller investigated Trump for obstruction of justice and possible collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, but brought no charges against him.
In addition to the federal investigation, Trump faces other legal woes.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against Trump and his three children alleging commercial fraud.
Trump is under investigation for pressuring officials in the southern swing state of Georgia to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory — including a now-infamous taped call in which he asked the secretary of state to “find” Enough votes to reverse the result.
Some analysts in Washington believe Trump’s unusually early announcement of his 2024 run for president was an attempt to avoid potential criminal charges.
Trump was impeached by the Democratic-majority House in 2019 for seeking political stain on Biden from Ukraine, and was impeached again after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, but was acquitted by the Senate.
A House committee investigating attacks on Congress by Trump supporters held an explosive series of hearings, laying out a road map for possible criminal charges against the former president.
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