Special Counsel Jack Smith submitted his resignation from the Justice Department less than two weeks before President Donald Trump’s formal inauguration on January 20.
Smith, who was previously tapped by the Biden administration to investigate President Trump, resigned Friday via a court filing received by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
In the court filing, officials urged Cannon not to extend a court order she recently issued temporarily blocking the release of Smith’s final investigative report, Politico reported, with the special counsel’s resignation appearing in a footnote.
Amid Joe Biden’s imminent departure from the White House, Smith’s departure is rather unsurprising, especially with the president-elect indicating that he would “fire him within two seconds” of taking office.
President Trump celebrated the resignation on Sunday, writing in a post to Truth Social that the special counsel had done nothing “except to show what complete losers” his political opponents were.
“The Stench of Deranged Jack Smith and his thugs is GONE. They were sent packing after spending over $100,000,000, destroying the lives of many people and families, who will never be the same again,” said the president-elect. “Deranged Jack accomplished nothing, except to show what complete losers my political opponents are!!!”
Smith previously opened two separate investigations into the president-elect, one pertaining to his handling of classified documents supposedly located inside his Mar-a-Lago resort home, and his role in the January 6, 2021 protests at the U.S. Capitol Building.
Ultimately, both cases faced issues with their standing alone. Cannon dismissed the classified documents case earlier in July, noting that Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, had no authority to appoint Smith.
Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that President Trump could claim some presidential immunity regarding the Jan. 6 case, per Politico’s report.