The U.S. Office of Special Counsel has begun an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led the Biden Department of Justice’s classified documents and Jan. 6 cases against President Donald Trump.
According to multiple reports, the OSC, an independent federal agency, is investigating Smith over alleged violations of the 1939 Hatch Act, which limits certain political activities of federal workers.
The OSC describes the law’s purpose on its website as ensuring “federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.”
Smith headed duel federal investigations into Trump, notably the classified documents case and another looking into Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election and the subsequent Jan. 6 riot. Both of those cases were tossed after Trump secured a second term in the White House last November.
The investigation into Smith comes shortly after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked the OSC to investigate Smith over “unprecedented interference” in the 2024 election.
In a string of social media posts last week, Cotton laid out his case against Smith, in which he repeatedly alleged that the investigations into Trump were designed to “hurt” the president and “help” former Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Republican senator pointed to a “procedurally irregular” 165-page brief that Smith filed just over 40 days out from Election Day, which Cotton said may violate the DOJ’s “60-day rule.” That rule, which has been described by one former acting U.S. attorney general as a “general practice” rather than a binding regulation, is designed to prevent election interference from the Executive Branch.
Smith resigned from his role at the DOJ just days before Trump took office in January. Shortly after, Trump suspended the security clearances from the lawyers who aided Smith in his investigations.
Since Smith is no longer a federal employee, it is unclear at this time what charges he may face.
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The OSC has undergone a shakeup since Trump entered office again, with the president firing the previous head of the agency, a Biden appointee, in February. Months later, Trump tapped Paul Ingrassia, who is already an aide in the White House, to lead the OSC.
While Ingrassia awaits confirmation, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has been serving the role in an acting capacity.
