Vorlage:Short description Vorlage:Other people Vorlage:Other people Vorlage:Use mdy dates Vorlage:Infobox officeholder John L. "Jack" Smith (born Vorlage:Abbr 1969) is an American attorney who has served in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) as an assistant United States Attorney, acting United States Attorney, and as head of the department's Public Integrity Section. He was also the chief prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, an international tribunal at The Hague tasked with investigating and prosecuting war crimes in the Kosovo War.
In November 2022, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Smith an independent special counsel, responsible for overseeing two preexisting DOJ criminal investigations into former president Donald Trump: an investigation regarding Trump's role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and an investigation into mishandling of government records, including classified documents.
Early life and education
Smith grew up in Clay, New York, a suburb of Syracuse.[1] He graduated from Liverpool High School in 1987.[2] He earned his Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Oneonta[3][4] and his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1994.
Career
He joined the New York County District Attorney's office after graduation, serving as Assistant District Attorney where he was a member of the Sex Crimes and Domestic Violence Units.[5]
Smith joined the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in 1999. At the office, he prosecuted the police officers who sodomized Abner Louima, and secured the death penalty against Ronell Wilson, who killed two members of the New York Police Department. From 2008 to 2010 he worked for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, overseeing war crime investigations.[6] In 2010, Smith was put in charge of the United States Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section (PIS).[1] He spent five years as chief of the PIS, where he prosecuted a variety of corruption cases, including those against Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, U.S. Representative Rick Renzi, New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Jeffrey Sterling, a CIA agent who shared national secrets.[7]
In 2015, Smith became an assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee.[8] He served as the acting United States Attorney in March 2017, succeeding David Rivera, and resigned effective September 2017 after the nomination of Donald Q. Cochran.[9] Smith became the vice president and head of litigation for Hospital Corporation of America in 2017.[10]
On May 7, 2018, Smith was named to a four-year term as chief prosecutor for the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, investigating war crimes committed in the Kosovo War,[5][6][8] including the case of Salih Mustafa.[11] He took up the post on September 11, 2018, and was appointed to a second term on May 8, 2022.[5]
United States special counsel
On November 18, 2022, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland named Smith special counsel to spearhead the criminal investigations into Donald Trump's actions regarding the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and Trump's handling and storage of government records, including classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.[6][7][12]
Awards
- US Department of Justice Director's Award[13]
- US Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service[14]
- Federal Bar Association's Younger Federal Attorney Award[14]
- Eastern District Association's Charles Rose Award[13]
- Henry L. Stimson Medal of the New York County Bar Association[13]
- Harvard Law School Wasserstein Fellowship[15]
Personal life
Smith is a competitive triathlete despite not becoming a swimmer until he was in his mid-thirties.[16][17] He is married to a documentary filmmaker and has a daughter.[17]
References
External links
- Jack Smith. United States Department of Justice, 13. April 2015.
- ↑ a b Pete Yost: DOJ’s elite Public Integrity unit gets new leader In: San Diego Union-Tribune, August 30, 2010. Abgerufen im November 19, 2022
- ↑ Ashley M. Casey: Liverpool grad named special counsel to oversee Trump investigations In: Eagle News, November 18, 2022. Abgerufen im November 19, 2022
- ↑ Aaron Keller: Special Counsel Tapped by Merrick Garland to Investigate Trump Formerly Prosecuted Top Democrats and Republicans. In: Law & Crime. 18. November 2022, abgerufen am 19. November 2022.
- ↑ Eugene Scott: Who is Jack Smith, special counsel in Trump criminal investigation? In: The Washington Post, November 18, 2022
- ↑ a b c Specialist Prosecutor. In: Kosovo Specialist Chambers & Specialist Prosecutor's Office. 20. Mai 2016, abgerufen am 18. November 2022 (englisch).
- ↑ a b c Zachary Cohen, Kara Scannell, Jeremy Herb, Katelyn Polantz, Chandelis Duster: Who is Jack Smith, the special counsel named in the Trump investigations. In: CNN. 18. November 2022, abgerufen am 19. November 2022 (englisch).
- ↑ a b Garland names Jack Smith special counsel for Trump criminal probes. In: POLITICO. 18. November 2022, abgerufen am 18. November 2022.
- ↑ a b Dustin Jones: Who is DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith? In: NPR. 18. November 2022, abgerufen am 18. November 2022.
- ↑ Jack Smith to resign from Nashville federal prosecutor's office. Tennessean.com, 4. August 2017, abgerufen am 18. November 2022.
- ↑ US Prosecutor Jack Smith appointed Specialist Prosecutor. In: Kosovo Specialist Chambers & Specialist Prosecutor's Office. 4. Mai 2018.
- ↑ Stephanie van den Berg: Ex-rebel denies war crimes as Kosovo tribunal starts first trial In: Reuters, 15. September 2021. Abgerufen am 19. November 2022 (englisch).
- ↑ Glenn Thrush, Charlie Savage, Maggie Haberman, Alan Feuer: Garland Names Special Counsel for Trump Inquiries. In: The New York Times. 18. November 2022, abgerufen am 19. November 2022.
- ↑ a b c US Prosecutor Tapped to Head Up Kosovo War Crime Court. In: www.courthousenews.com. Abgerufen am 18. November 2022 (amerikanisches Englisch).
- ↑ a b Jared Gans: Who is Special Counsel Jack Smith? In: The Hill. 18. November 2022, abgerufen am 18. November 2022 (amerikanisches Englisch).
- ↑ Past Wasserstein Fellows. In: Harvard Law School. Abgerufen am 18. November 2022 (amerikanisches Englisch).
- ↑ Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie Gurman: Jack Smith Brings Broad Resume, Low Political Profile to High-Visibility Post In: The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2022. Abgerufen im November 19, 2022
- ↑ a b Jack Smith.