Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel who filed a superceding indictment against Trump?
Smith is an American attorney who was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to deal with the cases against former president Donald Trump.
US Atorney General Merrick Garland announced in 2022 that an independent lawyer had been appointed to serve as a special counsel on the Justice Department’s criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump.
Jack Smith filed indictments against Trump in both investigations, the first being in June 2023; 37 felony counts related to mishandling of classified documents and the second in August the same year of four federal charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The case for mishandling documents has eben thrown out, while the election charges are still ongoing.
Who is Jack Smith?
Smith gained experience in prosecuting a number of extremely high profile cases in the United States over a decades-long career. He has served as chief of public integrity for the Justice Department, bringing cases against both Republicans and Democrats in that role.
He is a registered independent with no ties to either party so he can bring a non-partisan viewpoint to the investigations.
His career as a prosecutor begin in New York in the 1990s while serving in the office of the Manhattan district attorney. He worked his way up to become a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, focusing on cases of public corruption.
He prosecuted instances of civil right violations and brought charges against gang members for the murder of several police officers in the city. He has also prosecuted a sitting US Senator, Democrat Sen. John Edwards.
Since 2018 Smith has been chief prosecutor at the international criminal court in The Hague. He has looked into allegations that war crimes were perpetrated in the Balkans, amongst other high-profile cases.