Jack Smith (lawyer)

Jack Smith
Smith standing in front of flags, wearing a suit
Smith in 2023
Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice
Assumed office
November 18, 2022
Appointed byMerrick Garland
United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee
Acting
March 14, 2017 – September 21, 2017
PresidentDonald Trump
Preceded byDavid Rivera
Succeeded byDonald Q. Cochran
Personal details
Born
John Luman Smith

(1969-06-05) June 5, 1969 (age 55)
Political partyIndependent[1]
Spouse
(m. 2011)
Children1
Education
ProfessionLawyer

John Luman Smith (born June 5, 1969) is an American attorney who has served in the United States Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney, acting U.S. attorney, and head of the department's Public Integrity Section. He was also the chief prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, an international tribunal at The Hague tasked with investigating and prosecuting war crimes in the Kosovo War.

In November 2022, attorney general Merrick Garland appointed Smith an independent special counsel, responsible for overseeing two preexisting Justice Department criminal investigations into former president Donald Trump, three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign: one regarding Trump's role in the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack, and the other into alleged mishandling of government records, including classified documents. The documents case resulted in a 37-count indictment of Trump in June 2023 to which three counts were later added in July.[2] In August, the January 6 case resulted in an indictment on four charges.[3]

The classified documents case was dismissed by judge Aileen Cannon in July 2024, on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.[2] Smith's office announced that he will be appealing the decision.[4]

  1. ^ Tucker, Eric; Balsamo, Michael (November 18, 2022). "Merrick Garland names special counsel to oversee Trump classified documents probe: 'The extraordinary circumstances here demand it'". Fortune. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Sneed, Tierney; Cohen, Marshall; Herb, Jeremy (July 27, 2023). "Special counsel brings more charges against Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case". CNN. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Sneed, Tierney; Cohen, Marshall; Cohen, Zachary; Cole, Devan; Rabinowitz, Hannah; Polantz, Katelyn; Gannon, Casey (August 1, 2023). "Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel's 2020 election interference probe". CNN. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference over concerns was invoked but never defined (see the help page).