What it means that a special counsel is running the Trump investigations

CNN
 — 

The legal jeopardy former President Donald Trump faces in two federal criminal investigations took on a new tenor Friday with the appointment of a special counsel at the Justice Department.

Jack Smith, a DOJ alum known for his work in international war crimes prosecutions, will take over the investigation into sensitive government documents taken to Trump’s Florida home at the end of his presidency.

Smith will also oversee aspects of the probe reviewing efforts to obstruct the transfer of presidential power after 2020, including bids to interfere with Congress’ certification of the vote.

Here’s what to know about the announcement and the investigations:

The attorney general unveiled the appointment of a special counsel for the investigations, which both have touched on Trump, who announced this week that he’s running for the White House in 2024.

Merrick Garland announces special counsel to oversee Trump investigations

Smith will ultimately report to Attorney General Merrick Garland. But as a special counsel he will be operating outside of the day-to-day supervision of the department’s political leadership and his interactions with Biden’s political appointees should be limited.

The independent special counsel puts some distance between the Department’s political leadership – who have been appointed by President Joe Biden – and what is happening in the Trump-related investigations. Smith is registered as an independent, a DOJ official told reporters.

“Such an appointment underscores the Department’s commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters,” Garland said. “It also allows prosecutors and agents to continue their work expeditiously, and to make decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”

The appointment has the practical effect of limiting information about the investigation that must be disclosed to Congress, as only details about its budget must be shared with lawmakers.

The special counsel regulations do allow for Garland to fire Smith. But any decision Garland makes to reject a request from the special counsel, including charging decisions, must also be reported to Congress.

Garland pointed specifically to the announcement by Trump earlier this week that he will seek the Republican nomination in 2024, as well as the indications that Biden has given that he also intends to run for reelection.

Department officials had been discussing appointing a special counsel in the probes implicating the former president, CNN was first to report earlier this month, as a way to shield the probes from accusations that they were being driven by politics.

Garland defended the work of DOJ officials who had been working on those investigation and said Friday that they had conducted “their work in the best traditions…