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Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday named former federal prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents and other presidential files at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate as well as a separate probe into efforts to undo the 2020 election.

The move, announced three days after Trump announced his 2024 candidacy, is a recognition of the unmistakable political implications of two investigations that involve not only a former president but also a current White House hopeful.

“The Department of Justice 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,” Garland told reporters. “Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”

Smith began his career in 1994 as an assistant district attorney with the New York County district attorney’s office. He went on to serve for the Eastern District of New York for nearly a decade in a number of top positions, including chief of criminal litigation and deputy chief of the criminal division, per his biography on the Justice Department website. 

During his nine-year tenure, Smith “prosecuted matters ranging from gang murders and police officers to civil rights violations,” Garland said Friday.

Smith then went on to serve in the International Criminal Court supervising war-crime investigations before ultimately returning to the Department of Justice, where he spearheaded a team of over 30 prosecutors investigating corruption and election crimes across the United States. 

In 2015, Smith became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee before becoming the acting U.S. attorney. Most recently, the Harvard Law School graduate returned to The Hague as a chief prosecutor tasked with investigating war crimes committed in Kosovo, located in the Balkans. 

“Mr. Smith will begin his work as special counsel immediately and will be returning to the United States from The Hague,” Garland said. 

Jack Smith (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

“Throughout his career, Jack Smith has built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead,” the attorney general added. “As special counsel, he will exercise independent prosecutorial judgment to decide whether charges should be brought.”

Smith will not oversee the Justice Department investigation involving individuals accused of committing crimes on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Garland said.

Trump representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Garland, meanwhile, said he had Justice Department and FBI investigators have been “conducting themselves in accordance with the highest standards of professionalism” and he “could not be prouder of them.”

“I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity,” he said. “And I also believe that appointing a special counsel at this time is the right thing to do. The extraordinary circumstances presented here demand it. Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner.”

The attorney general also said he’s giving the special counsel the resources needed to conduct the probes “quickly and completely.”

In a statement, Smith said he intends to conduct the investigations “independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.”

“The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch,” he said. “I will exercise independent judgement and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.”