Federal officials have launched an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who was investigating President Trump ahead of the election.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency, is heading the investigation against Mr. Smith over alleged violations of the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans certain public officials from engaging in political activity.
The investigation was first reported by the New York Post on Friday.
Mr. Smith was named special counsel by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to investigate Mr. Trump over his involvement in the Jan.6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his mishandling of classified documents from his first presidential term.
Neither case went to trial, and both were dropped after Mr. Trump was reelected. Mr. Smith then resigned as special counsel shortly before Mr. Trump was inaugurated in January 2025.
A request for the investigation came from Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, on Wednesday.
“Jack Smith’s legal actions were nothing more than a tool for the Biden and Harris campaigns,” Mr. Cotton wrote in an X thread. “This isn’t just unethical, it is very likely illegal campaign activity from a public office.”
“Special Counsel Smith pushed for an out-of-the-ordinary, rushed trial for President Trump, with jury selection to begin just two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. No other case of this magnitude and complexity would come to trial this quickly,” he said in the thread, before laying out other actions taken by Mr. Smith.
“These actions were not standard, necessary, or justified. They were the actions of a political actor masquerading as a public official,” he wrote. “That’s why I’ve asked this unprecedented interference in the 2024 election be immediately investigated by OSC.”
Mr. Trump continuously railed against Mr. Smith during the time he was being investigated, and said the cases against him were just “witch hunts.”
When Mr. Smith resigned, Mr. Trump attacked him once more in a social media post, calling him “deranged.”
“Deranged Jack Smith was fired today by the DOJ. He is a disgrace to himself, his family, and his Country,” Mr. Trump wrote. “After spending over $100,000,000 on the Witch Hunt against TRUMP, he left town empty handed!”
In another post, he wrote, “the stench of deranged Jack Smith and his thugs is GONE.”
“They were sent packing after spending over $100,000,000, destroying the lives of many people and families, who will never be the same again. Deranged Jack accomplished nothing, except to show what complete losers my political opponents are!!!”
