Investigation launched on Jack Smith, the former special prosecutor who investigated Donald Trump
Special American prosecutor Jack Smith. Photo credit: Saul Loeb / AFP / Profimedia
The American federal authorities opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special prosecutor who investigated Donald Trump before re -election for a second term, the American press announces, according to News.ro.
Federal officials are investigating Smith, after Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans said that his surveys on the Trump candidate at that time were an illegal political activity. Trump and his allies did not present concrete evidence of illegal facts.
The Bureau of the Special Prosecutor (OSC) of the US, an independent federal agency, confirmed on Saturday for NBC News to investigate Smith for alleged violations of the hatch law, a law that prohibits civil servants certain political activities.
OSC is different from the type of office of the prosecutor specially led by Smith, which was appointed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The independent agency does not have the authority to formulate criminal accusations and to prosecute the persons who violate the hatch law, but may request disciplinary measures for an employee of the federal government, such as removal from public office, or may transmit its conclusions on violating the hatch law to Doj for investigation.
On Wednesday, Senator Tom Cotton, Republican in Arkansas, asked VSC to investigate Smith for “unprecedented interference in the 2024 elections.” A source familiar with this case states that I am confirmed to Cotton that he will start the investigation following his request.
Jack Smith was appointed a special prosecutor by the then prosecutor, Merrick Garland, in November 2022, to supervise the open federal investigations against Trump after leaving the White House. Trump had announced his new presidency for three days before Smith's appointment.
Smith filed two criminal charges against the Trump candidate in 2023, but resigned a week before the president's investment in January 2025, without ever having brought the two cases before the court.
“Jack Smith's legal actions were nothing more than an instrument of Biden and Harris's campaigns,” Cotton wrote on X this week. “It is not only lacking in ethics, but it is very likely an illegal campaign activity from a public function,” said the senator.
Cotton claims that Smith insisted for a “accelerated process” against Trump, but the Republican did not publicly present evidence to detail how Smith's actions were illegal.
The violations of the hatch law are not usually notified to the Department of Justice. In 2019, the OSC recommended that the then president, Trump, dismiss Kellyanne Conway, a white house counselor, from the Federal Public position for violations of the hatch law, but the case was not sent to the Department of Justice.
Trump's candidate for OSC leadership is blocked in the Senate. An official of the White House told NBC News that Paul Fegrassia, a former podcast presenter with a challenging comment history, will meet with senators in individual meetings, before the confirmation vote.
