Jack Smith plans to step down before Trump takes office

Jack Smith announces an indictment against Donald Trump over the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

Jack Smith, the special counsel who led two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, is expected to leave the Justice Department before the president-elect takes office, CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, reports.

The timing would allow Mr Smith to leave his post without being fired by Trump or his eventual attorney general, CBS says, citing two people familiar with his plans.

If his exit goes to plan, Mr Smith would leave without either of his criminal prosecutions of Trump – over the alleged improper hoarding of classified documents and an alleged attempt to interfere in the 2020 election outcome – seeing trial.

His team is reportedly winding down its work, as Trump’s election renders the cases all but finished.

A Trump-appointed Florida judge dismissed Trump’s classified documents case in July, though the decision remains on appeal.

The election interference case is currently ongoing. But Justice Department procedure bars criminal proceedings against sitting presidents while they are in office.

Traditionally, special counsels issue a final report when their investigations conclude that detail the steps their investigation took and their conclusions about whether to bring charges.

It is not yet clear whether Mr Smith will submit such a report to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and if it would see the light of day before Trump takes office.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.

Though they do not directly result in legal action, special counsel reports can have significant impact in the public sphere if they are released.

Over the summer, for example, special counsel Robert Hur released a report on Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents; the prosecutor’s decision not to charge Biden was overshadowed by damaging revelations about Biden’s age and mental acuity.

Mr Smith has already aired much of his evidence in Trump’s election interference case through court filings.

Trump had pleaded not guilty in both cases and sought to cast the prosecutions as politically motivated.

Trump successfully argued to the US Supreme Court that presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for certain “official acts” undertaken while in office. The victory forced Mr Smith to re-calibrate his indictment – but also allowed him to file a tranche of supporting evidence for his case.

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan has granted Mr Smith a 2 December deadline to decide how to proceed.

Mr Smith’s departure would mark Trump’s legal triumphs over the US criminal justice system.

The president-elect was indicted in four different criminal cases in 2023, only one of which went to trial in New York.

That case, involving a fraudulent attempt to cover up hush money payments to an adult film star, resulted in a conviction on 34 felony counts.

But Trump’s election has thrown even that verdict into question, as his lawyers seek to overturn the conviction on the grounds that it violates presidential immunity, and would interfere with his White House duties.