# Jack Smith

### Context

Jack Smith is a U.S. prosecutor who was appointed special counsel by Attorney General [Merrick Garland](/people/merrick-garland) on 18 November 2022 to oversee two federal investigations involving former [president Donald Trump](/people/mig-donald-trump): efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power after the 2020 election, and the handling of classified documents and related obstruction issues. The appointment gave Smith prosecutorial authority under Justice Department supervision; it did not make him a judge and did not make the allegations self-proving. The distinction is central to evaluating his record. Source: [U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel archive](https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco-smith?os=a).

### Record

Smith's office obtained federal indictments in both matters. The election-interference case alleged a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election result; the classified-documents case alleged unlawful retention of national-defense information and obstruction-related conduct. Neither case produced a trial verdict. After Trump's 2024 election victory, Smith moved to dismiss the federal election case under the Justice Department's longstanding position that a sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted; the classified-documents prosecution had separately been dismissed by the trial judge, with litigation over the special-counsel appointment continuing. Smith submitted his final report in January 2025. Volume One, covering the election case, was publicly released. Sources: [DOJ final report, 7 January 2025](https://www.justice.gov/storage/Report-of-Special-Counsel-Smith-Volume-1-January-2025.pdf) and [Reuters, 10 January 2025](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trumps-criminal-civil-cases-2025-01-10/).

## Dated facts

- 2025: Justice Department releases Jack Smith's report on the election case. https://factrail.ai/facts/smith-final-report-election-case-released-2025-01-14. Sources: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-releases-special-counsel-jack-smiths-findings-in-trump-jan-6-probe_n_677fd5dae4b09fe8a981d328.
- 2023: Trump indicted in federal 2020 election interference case. https://factrail.ai/facts/trump-indicted-in-federal-election-interference-case-2023-08.
- 2023: Trump indicted in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. https://factrail.ai/facts/trump-indicted-in-mar-a-lago-documents-case-2023-06.
- 2022: Jack Smith appointed special counsel for Trump investigations. https://factrail.ai/facts/garland-appoints-jack-smith-special-counsel-2022-11-18. Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/18/politics/jack-smith-special-counsel/index.html, https://fortune.com/2022/11/18/merrick-garland-special-counsel-donald-trump-classified-records-mar-a-lago-jack-smith/.
- 2018: Jack Smith appointed chief prosecutor of the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor's Office. https://factrail.ai/facts/smith-named-kosovo-specialist-prosecutor-2018-05. Sources: https://www.scp-ks.org/en/us-prosecutor-jack-smith-appointed-specialist-prosecutor, https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/16/politics/kosovo-war-crimes-tribunal-jack-smith/index.html.

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/jack-smith