The legal jeopardy former President Donald Trump faces in two federal criminal investigations took on a new tenor Friday with the appointment of a special counsel at the Justice Department.
, a DOJ alum known for his work in international war crimes prosecutions, will take over the investigation into sensitive government documents taken to Trump's Florida home at the end of his presidency.
Smith will ultimately report to Attorney General Merrick Garland. But as a special counsel he will be operating outside of the day-to-day supervision of the department's political leadership and his interactions with Biden's political appointees should be limited. The appointment has the practical effect of limiting information about the investigation that must be disclosed to Congress, as only details about its budget must be shared with lawmakers.
Garland defended the work of DOJ officials who had been working on those investigation and said Friday that they had conducted "their work in the best traditions of the Department of Justice." But, he said, the DOJ "has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution.
Smith's most recent role was as the chief prosecutor investigating war crimes in Kosovo for a special court of The Hague. Special counsel Robert Mueller's two-year investigation into Trump-Russia ties ultimately cost nearly $32 million, however that total includes what Mueller borrowed from other parts of the Justice Department that weren't under his direct control."I have been proven innocent for six years on everything -- from fake impeachments to Mueller who found no collusion, and now I have to do it more?" Trump told Fox News Digital. "It is not acceptable. It is so unfair.
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