UPDATED: Jack’s hitting the road. That’s right. Jack Smith, rather than continuing his law fare against Donald Trump, is quitting before Trump can fire him.

Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued two federal prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, plans to finish his work and resign along with other members of his team before Mr. Trump takes office in January, people familiar with his plans said.

Mr. Smith’s goal, they said, is to not leave any significant part of his work for others to complete and to get ahead of the president-elect’s promise to fire him within “two seconds” of being sworn in.

Mr. Smith, who since taking office two years ago has operated under the principle that not even a powerful ex-president is above the law, now finds himself on the defensive as he rushes to wind down a pair of complex investigations slowed by the courts and ultimately made moot by Mr. Trump’s electoral victory.

I tell you, it must have really chapped Jack Smith’s hide that Trump prevailed on November 5th as that victory totally tanked his cases. So sad that he is no longer able to convict Trump. Darn the luck! 

Meanwhile, what to do with all the evidence and proceedings in those cases?

Under DOJ regulations, Smith – who has become a target of pro-Trump Republicans – is required to file reports summarizing his probes and any subsequent decisions.

It wasn’t immediately clear how quickly he’d be able to wrap up what is left of his work, those familiar with his plans told the outlet.

It comes after a federal judge last week put Smith’s 2020 election case on ice after he requested a pause in court filing deadlines — as reports indicated the DOJ would drop all pending litigation against the 45th president.

If Jack wants to quit and be out the door well before Trump takes office, he’s going to have to put in some serious overtime to get these reports done. And, by the way, don’t let anything disappear. 

https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1854932175700849117

Yep, all documents should be present and accounted for once Jack finalizes his reports. Of course, Merrick Garland (who I will be more than thrilled to see kicked to the curb) will have to review and sign off, but even he will have to have that done before January 20, 2025. 

It would be the right and proper thing to do by having the reports done and released to the public. The question is, given Jack Smith and Merrick Garland’s history of law fare against Donald Trump, WILL they do so?

UPDATE: Jack is no longer going to appeal the classified documents Mar-A-Lago raid case. 

“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” Smith wrote to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The Government respectfully requests that the Court hold this appeal in abeyance — and stay the deadline for the Government’s reply brief, which is currently due on November 15, 2024 — until December 2, 2024, to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” the federal prosecutor added.

Good! It was a bogus case from the very start!

Feature Photo Credit: Tomas/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons/Ben Longstroth/flickr.com/Public Domain