Attorney General Garland Defends Special Counsel Jack Smith

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks during a meeting with U.S. attorneys at the Justice Department in Washington on June 14, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on June 14 defended special counsel Jack Smith after former President Donald Trump was charged with concealing documents and other crimes.

Garland described Smith as a “veteran career prosecutor” who “has assembled a group of experienced and talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity and the rule of law.”

Garland, a Biden appointee who appointed Smith to investigate the former president, also said that he’s followed federal regulations with respect to the probe.

The regulations require the special counsel to notify the attorney general of “significant events” in the course of an investigation. They also state that the attorney general may ask the special counsel for an explanation of any steps the special counsel takes and may decide that an action is “so inappropriate or unwarranted under established Departmental practices that it should not be pursued.”

Garland was commenting after holding an unrelated event in Washington and after Trump accused the Department of Justice (DOJ) of election interference and weaponizing the justice system.

On June 13, hours after entering a not guilty plea in Miami, Trump told supporters in New Jersey that President Joe Biden “had his top political opponent arrested on fake and fabricated charges” and dubbed the DOJ as the “Department of Injustice.”

Biden has said that he has never suggested to the DOJ to bring a charge or not bring a charge.

Trump also criticized Smith over his prosecution of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. Smith won a conviction of McDonnell on bribery charges, although the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously tossed the conviction, with Justice John Roberts taking issue with the government’s “boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute.”

McDonnell, a Republican, said on Newsmax on June 14 that Smith “would rather win than get it right.”

“I think he’s overzealous and over-aggressive and will extend the law in order to get a win,” McDonnell added.

Smith, who was a top Justice Department official until 2015, also considered investigating nonprofits targeted by the IRS but ultimately chose against prosecution, he testified (pdf) in 2014. Emails showed that Smith thought officials could charge the nonprofits, which the IRS wrongly targeted, with conspiracy to violate campaign finance law.

Smith’s wife is a film director who produced a documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama and has donated to Biden, who beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, second from left, answers questions during a meeting with U.S. attorneys at the Justice Department in Washington on June 14, 2023. Garland was joined (from left) by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite, and U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump in Washington on June 9, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Garland appointed Smith in late 2022 to investigate Trump’s handling of records, including documents with classification markings, and whether any person or group illegally interfered with the transfer of power after the 2020 election or the certification of electoral votes that occurred on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith said when he was appointed that he intended to carry out the investigations “independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.”

In prepared remarks after Trump’s indictment was unsealed, Smith tried to combat accusations of unfair application of the law.

“We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. Applying those laws. Collecting facts. That’s what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more. Nothing less,” he said.

Trump has drawn attention to how the department has declined to prosecute a number of top officials, including his onetime rival Hillary Clinton, even though the officials also were found to possess records marked classified. He has also defended keeping materials, arguing that he declassified them before leaving office.

According to the indictment, Trump illegally held onto national defense records and violated the law when he showed them to other people, including an unidentified writer and publisher. Trump also made false statements to investigators and worked with an aide, Waltine Nauta, to hide some of the documents from the FBI, authorities say.

Smith hasn’t taken questions since being appointed. Garland took several questions on June 14, but declined to say when became aware of the decision to charge Trump. He also said he couldn’t discuss the particulars of any ongoing criminal case before praising Smith and Smith’s team.

“Any questions about this matter will have to be answered by their filings in court,” he said.

Garland was also asked about so-called extremism experts being concerned about unrest in Miami, where Trump was arraigned.

“We live in a democracy. These kinds of matters are adjudicated through the judicial system,” he said. “The Justice Department will be vigilant to ensure that there are no threats of violence or actual violence.”