Attorney General Merrick Garland has named Friday a special counsel to investigate the entirety of the criminal probe into the unlawful retention of national defense information at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, Fox News has learned.
Garland appointed former Justice Department official Jack Smith to the role. Smith is a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ’s public integrity section. Since 2018, Smith has been a prosecutor with the International Criminal Court tasked with investigating and adjudicating war crimes in Kosovo.
Smith will also oversee the investigation into key aspects of the Jan. 6 investigation, a senior Justice Department official also told Fox News.
FBI agents seized classified records from former Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago during the agency’s unprecedented raid on Aug. 8, including some marked as top secret, according to a warrant and property receipt.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland, left, and former U.S. President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)
A warrant signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart gave agents the authority to seize “all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed” in violation of U.S. Code, including documents with classification markings and presidential records created between Jan. 20, 2017 and Jan. 20, 2021.
According to the property receipt, FBI agents took approximately 20 boxes of items from the premises, including one set of documents marked as “Various classified/TS/SCI documents,” which refers to top secret/sensitive compartmented information.
Records covered by that government classification level could include human intelligence, and information that, if disclosed, could jeopardize relations between the United States and other nations, as well as the lives of intelligence operatives abroad. However, the classification also encompasses national security information related to the daily operations of the president of the United States.
The government conducted the search in response to what it believes to be a violation of federal laws: 18 USC 793 — Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information; 18 USC 2071 — Concealment, removal or mutilation; and 18 USC 1519 — Destruction, alteration or falsification of records in Federal investigations.
Local law enforcement officers are seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Aug. 9, 2022. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)
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The allegation of “gathering, transmitting or losing defense information” falls under the Espionage Act.
An aerial view of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is seen Aug. 10 in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The former president and his team, though, are disputing the classification and believe the information and records to have been declassified.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
