Former special counsel Jack Smith responded through his lawyers on Tuesday to news that a government watchdog had opened an investigation into his two prosecutions of President Donald Trump, calling the inquiry baseless.
Smith’s attorneys at Covington & Burling wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that the predicate for its investigation was “imaginary and unfounded” and that Smith followed all the Department of Justice’s rules and principles in his work.
“Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, not because of them,” his attorneys wrote.
EX-TRUMP PROSECUTOR JACK SMITH UNDER INVESTIGATION BY GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL
The Office of Special Counsel is an independent agency unrelated to the DOJ or the special counsels, such as Smith, who have worked there.
The OSC, which functions as a watchdog, handles complaints from government whistleblowers and investigates Hatch Act violations by federal employees. It can impose administrative punishments for wrongdoing, including fines or termination from government work. Fox News confirmed this month that the OSC was investigating Smith under the Hatch Act, which bars certain government employees from engaging in political campaign work while on the job.
The OSC’s investigation came after Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., demanded in a letter to the OSC that it look into instances of Smith seeking to expedite Trump’s prosecutions.
“Many of Smith’s legal actions seem to have no rationale except for an attempt to affect the 2024 election results—actions that would violate federal law,” Cotton wrote.
TOP GOP SENATOR DEMANDS PROBE INTO WHETHER JACK SMITH ‘UNLAWFULLY’ TRIED TO INFLUENCE 2024 ELECTION
Smith spent about two years investigating and prosecuting Trump during the Biden administration. He brought two indictments against Trump, one alleging he violated the Espionage Act by mishandling national defense information and another alleging he attempted to subvert the 2020 election. Smith dismissed both cases after Trump won the 2024 election, a move that aligned with longstanding DOJ policy about prosecuting sitting presidents.
Smith’s attorneys wrote that the actions Cotton cited in his letter, including asking courts to move the proceedings along and to give him permission to file longer briefs, were “unremarkable,” standard for a prosecutor and subject to court approval.
“This investigation is premised on a partisan complaint that suggests the ordinary operation of the criminal justice system should be disrupted by the whims of a political contest,” Smith’s attorneys wrote.
The letter was addressed to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who is serving as the acting head of the Office of Special Counsel while Trump’s nominee for the role faces roadblocks to Senate confirmation.
The attorneys asked Greer to reach out to them directly before taking any further steps to investigate Smith so that his findings, if any, could be “fully informed by the record.”
Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.
