What does a special counsel do?

Under the regulations, a special counsel is not subject to daily supervision from any Justice Department officials, though the attorney general can ask them to provide an explanation for some actions they might take. The special counsel can also only be removed from the job for certain things, including misconduct or “other good cause,” the regulations say — and that can only be done by the attorney general. When the special counsel’s work is done, the regulations say, they have to give the attorney general a report. Then it’s up to the attorney general to decide whether some or all of the report should be made public. Smith takes over a pair of investigations that are both politically fraught: The examination of whether Trump possibly mishandled classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and key aspects of the sprawling inquiry launched after the Jan. 6 , 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Special counsels are allowed to request staff from within the department as well as outside personnel. Career staff already working on the two issues Smith will now oversee are expected to stay on them. The Justice Department has also been adding staff to work both cases, and it is expected to keep doing so.

Who is Jack Smith, the latest special counsel?

Smith is a longtime federal prosecutor who spent nearly a decade working as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn after working in Manhattan. He has also run the Justice Department’s Public Integrity section. More recently, he has been working at the International Criminal Court at The Hague. The Justice Department said he had been working as chief prosecutor there, tasked with investigating war crimes in Kosovo, and has resigned. Garland praised Smith in his announcement, highlighting his “prosecutorial experience” and describing him as “the right choice” to manage these investigations.

What is the history of special counsels, special prosecutors and presidents?

This history stretches back nearly 150 years , when President Ulysses S. Grant named a special prosecutor to investigate corruption and then fired him . A century later came the Watergate scandal and Richard M. Nixon’s push to oust the special prosecutor in that case. After Watergate, Congress passed an ethics law that included the creation of independent counsels meant to be insulated from presidential interference. That measure lapsed in 1999, and now it’s up to officials like Garland to appoint prosecutors like Smith. (The Post’s Ian Shapira has much more on this history here .)

How many special counsels have been named lately?

Garland’s announcement marks the third time in a little more than five years that the Justice Department has named a special counsel. In 2017, former FBI director Robert S. Mueller III was appointed special counsel to investigate possible coordination between then-President Trump’s campaign and Russian officials. Mueller submitted a written report in 2019, marking the end of his investigation. In late 2020, the Justice Department revealed that then-Attorney General William P. Barr had appointed John Durham, a U.S. Attorney, as a special counsel. The previous year, Barr had asked Durham to essentially investigate the origins of the investigation Mueller took over. Then, in October 2020, shortly before the presidential election, Barr signed an order appointing Durham as special counsel due to “extraordinary circumstances.” That order was kept secret until weeks later , after Trump’s loss. Durham remains in his special counsel role, and is expected to conclude his work in the coming months. He has charged three people in connection with his investigation; one pleaded guilty to altering an email that was used to justify secret surveillance, and two charged with lying to the FBI were acquitted by juries . He is required to write a report when his work concludes, and Garland will decide what from that report, if anything, gets released publicly.

Will Smith’s appointment slow either investigation?

It’s certainly possible. But Garland and Smith both took pains Friday to say this would not happen. Garland specifically said Smith would get the resources needed to do his work “quickly.” He also said that given Smith’s experience and the work already done on the two cases, “I am confident that this appointment will not slow the completion of these investigations.” In his own statement, released by the Justice Department, Smith similarly vowed that investigations would proceed “expeditiously.” Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein contributed to this report.

What is a special counsel, and what it means for Trump investigations

Q: What is a special counsel?

The short version: A prosecutor who takes over a criminal investigation. The slightly longer version: Under Justice Department regulations , the attorney general or person acting in that capacity appoints a special counsel to take over an investigation if they determine that is warranted and if the situation “would present a conflict of interest for the department or other extraordinary circumstances.” Garland, who was appointed by Biden to oversee the Department of Justice, said Friday that he determined it was “in the public interest” to name a special counsel. He pointed in particular to two recent developments: Trump’s announcement this week that he was running for president again, along with Biden’s public acknowledgment that he also intends to run for a second term.

By Mark Berman

Updated November 18, 2022 at 5:54 p.m. EST|Published November 18, 2022 at 5:03 p.m. EST

On Nov. 18, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee probes related to former president Donald Trump. (Video: The Washington Post)

Listen

5 min

On Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that a special counsel would oversee a pair of criminal investigations involving former president Donald Trump. Garland named Jack Smith, a veteran Justice Department prosecutor, to oversee an investigation into Trump’s handling of documents at his South Florida home and private club, and a separate probe digging into attempts to stop President Biden from assuming office.

Get the full experience.Choose your plan

Here’s what you need to know about the appointment.

Trump's White House documents

HAND CURATED

Skepticism before a search: Inside the Trump Mar-a-Lago documents investigation
December 21, 2022
Skepticism before a search: Inside the Trump Mar-a-Lago documents investigation
December 21, 2022
Justice Department asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case
December 8, 2022
Justice Department asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case
December 8, 2022
Items with classified markings found at Trump storage unit in Florida
December 7, 2022
Items with classified markings found at Trump storage unit in Florida
December 7, 2022