Donald Trump launches 2024 presidential campaign
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Attorney General Merrick Garland has named Department of Justice veteran and former Hague war crimes prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to consider whether former president Donald Trump should face criminal charges.
Mr Garland made the announcement at a news conference on Friday and said Mr Smith will focus on the possibility of charges stemming from the investigations into the January 6 Capitol riot and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents.
The news comes just days after Mr Trump gave an uncharacteristically downbeat speech announcing his intention to undertake another run for the presidency in 2024.
Meanwhile, author E Jean Carroll, who claims Donald Trump raped her in a New York department store in the 1990s, is bringing another lawsuit against the former president accusing him of battery.
Ms Carroll is bringing her case under a New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual assault a chance to file civil suits even after the statute of limitations on an alleged crime has expired. Her new lawsuit also accuses Mr Trump of defaming her with recent social media posts in which he called her a “con job”.
Key points
Show latest update
1668802811
Trump ally Greene quick off the starting blocks
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 20:20
1668802211
Extraordinary circumstances mean ‘it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel’
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the appointment would allow prosecutors in the cases against former President Donald Trump to continue their work “indisputably guided” only by the facts and the law.
“The Department of Justice has long recognised that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public’s interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Mr Garland said from the Justice Department’s podium.
“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”
(REUTERS)
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 20:10
1668801320
Merrick Garland names war crimes prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee Trump probes
Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed Jack Smith, a former head of the Department of Justice public integrity section who previously served in prosecutorial roles at the International Criminal Court and the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, as a special prosecutor to consider whether former president Donald Trump should face criminal charges stemming from a series of ongoing probes into his conduct.
Mr Garland announced his plans at a news conference at Justice Department headquarters on Friday.
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg has the latest.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:55
1668800711
Trump’s rhetoric blamed for 145% rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans… and he’s at it again
With Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail this week came the resurgence of another familiar theme as well: racist language designed to denigrate Asian-Americans.
Mr Trump formally entered the 2024 race on Tuesday, ending months of will-he-won’t-he speculation and giving us the first real preview of a rematch between himself and President Joe Biden.
But before entering the race officially the ex-president spent weeks, if not months, teasing his eventual campaign launch and doing what he does best: attacking his rivals on the political stage. And it is in that arena where Mr Trump has leaned into the hateful, racist rhetoric which he previously displayed throughout 2020.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:45
1668799669
Mr Smith is a former acting US attorney in Tennessee who served as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn-based US Attorney’s office.
Since 2018, Mr Smith has served as the chief prosecutor for the special court of The Hague investigating war crimes in Kosovo. He will return to the US and start work immediately.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:27
1668799603
Confirmed: Jack Smith named as special counsel
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:26
1668799558
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg hears that the special counsel will be Jack Smith, a former Easter District of New York criminal division deputy chief and ex-head of DOJ public integrity section.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:25
1668799463
Special counsel will handle two Trump investigations
Merrick Garland says the Trump special counsel will handle two things : interference with the transfer of power, and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:24
1668799069
Musk: ‘No decision; over Trump on Twitter as others reinstated
Graeme Massie has the full story.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 19:17
1668796839
BREAKING: Merrick Garland to name special counsel to consider charges against Donald Trump
Attorney General Merrick Garland will reportedly name a special prosecutor to consider whether former president Donald Trump should face criminal charges stemming from a series of Department of Justice probes into his conduct.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Garland will announce his plans at a news conference to be held at Justice Department headquarters on Friday.
Andrew Feinberg in Washington, DC, is covering this breaking news for The Independent.
Oliver O’Connell18 November 2022 18:40