US federal authorities have initiated an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led two high-profile criminal cases against President Donald Trump before stepping down
earlier this year.
The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) confirmed to the BBC that an inquiry into Mr Smith is ongoing but declined to provide further details. While the OSC lacks the power to file criminal charges, it can pursue disciplinary actions or refer cases to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Appointed in 2022, Smith was tasked with probing Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Smith resigned in January, shortly before Trump’s second inauguration.
Unlike the DOJ’s special counsel offices, which can bring federal charges, the OSC functions as an independent agency that investigates civil service violations and ensures compliance with federal rules.
According to US media reports, the investigation into Smith focuses on alleged breaches of the Hatch Act, a law that prohibits federal officials from engaging in political activities while performing their official duties. This development follows calls from Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who urged the OSC to examine Smith's "unprecedented interference" in the 2024 presidential election.
Smith’s investigations culminated in criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty and dismissed the cases as politically motivated attacks. However, after Trump’s victory in the November 2024 election, both cases were closed, adhering to DOJ regulations that bar the prosecution of a sitting president.
Senator Cotton recently took to X (formerly Twitter), alleging that Smith’s actions amounted to "illegal campaign activity from a public office" and accusing the investigations of being tools for the Biden-Harris campaign.
The BBC has reached out to Smith’s legal team for a response regarding the OSC probe.
The investigation into Smith follows a turbulent period for the OSC. In February, Trump dismissed its former head, Hampton Dellinger, after Dellinger advocated for reinstating probationary federal employees who had been terminated by the Trump administration. Although a judge ruled Dellinger's firing unlawful, a federal appeals court allowed the administration to replace him while the case was pending. Dellinger eventually dropped his legal challenge in March, expressing concern over the agency’s independence.
“This agency could suffer immediate and irreparable harm under a Special Counsel who is not independent,” Dellinger warned at the time.
Smith is not the first former official to face scrutiny under Trump’s leadership. In May, the Secret Service opened an investigation into former FBI Director James Comey after he posted—and then deleted—a picture of seashells on social media, which some Republicans interpreted as an incitement to violence against Trump. Comey, who served under President Obama from 2013 to 2017, has denied any wrongdoing.
Additionally, media reports earlier this month indicated that Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan are under investigation for allegedly providing false testimony to Congress during probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Brennan has condemned the investigations, calling them a “continued politicisation of the intelligence community” under Trump. Photo by United States Department of Justice, Wikimedia commons.
