Attorney General Garland names special counsel in Trump probes

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s investigations into Donald Trump just days after the former president announced his intent to seek the office again in 2024.

Garland said Jack Smith, a longtime prosecutor and current war crimes investigator, would take the helm of two investigations, one into the mishandling of sensitive government records at Mar-a-Lago, as well as aspects of its investigation into Jan. 6., 2021 covering “whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power.”