An independent special investigator will deal with the investigations against Donald Trump in the future. It is about confiscated secret documents from his private property and the Capitol storming in early 2021.
The US Department of Justice has hired an independent special prosecutor to investigate former President Donald Trump. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference. US Attorney Jack Smith, who was most recently investigating war crimes in Kosovo in The Hague, will lead investigations into secret documents confiscated from Trump’s private home Mar-a-Lago and parts of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Garland said in Washington.
The announcement comes three days after Trump announced his intention to run again in the 2024 presidential election. The appointment of an independent special counsel is likely to pursue the goal of taking the wind out of the sails of allegations of political instrumentalization of the Justice Department.
Garland said naming a special counsel was “in the public interest.” “In light of recent developments, including the previous president’s announcement that he is a presidential nominee in the next election, and the current president’s (Joe Biden) intent to also be a nominee, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.” As a special counsel, Smith will “independently” decide whether official allegations will be made, Garland said.
A special investigator had already dealt with Trump: Robert Mueller investigated allegations of Russian interference in Trump’s favor in the 2016 US presidential election during the Republican’s tenure in the White House in 2017. During his almost two-year investigation, the former head of the FBI federal police did not find sufficient evidence of illegal secret collusion between Trump’s campaign team and Russia. However, he expressly did not exonerate the President from the suspicion of criminal obstruction of justice.