US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Friday he would be appointing longtime Justice Department prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee investigations into former President Donald Trump.
In a statement to the press, Garland said Smith will probe whether Trump broke the law and obstructed justice in connection with his removal of hundreds of documents from the White House, which were shipped to his residence at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The other probe is related to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
“It is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution based on recent developments including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting presidents stated intention to be a candidate as well,” Garland said, according to NBC News.
The attorney general said that he was “confident” that the appointment “will not slow the completion of these investigations.”
“I will ensure that the Special Counsel receives the resources to conduct this work quickly and completely,” Garland said.
Smith, a career DOJ prosecutor, most recently served as chief prosecutor for the special court in the Hague, in the Netherlands. In that post, which he resigned to take the special counsel post, he investigated war crimes in Kosovo.
Smith’s appointment comes three days after Trump officially announced plans to run for president in 2024. Trump’s move directly led to Garland’s decision to appoint a special counsel, according to NBC News.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)