Jack Smith named special counsel for Trump Mar-a-Lago, Jan. 6 investigators

“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,” Garland said at a news conference at the Justice Department.

He insisted the decision would not slow the investigations involving Trump.

A special counsel appointment “is the right thing to do,” the attorney general said. “The extraordinary circumstances presented here demand it. Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner.”

Investigators see ego, not money as Trump’s motive in keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago

Well before Friday’s announcement, Justice Department officials discussed the possibility of appointing a special counsel to take over investigations involving Trump — such as the Mar-a-Lago case or the attempts to prevent Joe Biden from ascending to the presidency after the 2020 election — if Trump formally declared himself a candidate, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

Many other political candidates have been investigated while they ran for office without the appointment of a special counsel — including Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent in 2016. The FBI investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server for government matters was opened in mid-2015, continued throughout the primaries, was closed just before the nominating convention and then publicly reopened less than two weeks before Election Day.

But some legal experts had called for a special counsel to take over the high-stakes probe, which has accelerated in recent months as investigators interviewed key witnesses and secured important video surveillance and other evidence.

The status of key investigations involving Donald Trump

Justice Department regulations say the attorney general “will” appoint a special counsel, essentially a prosecutor handpicked to tackle a particularly criminal investigation, if a case meets several criteria, specifically: that an investigation is warranted in a way that presents a conflict of interest for the Justice Department “or other extraordinary…