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(The Hill) — Special counsel Jack Smith plans to wrap up his work and resign from his post before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
Trump has boasted that he plans to fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office and has also made other threatening remarks about the special counsel, including that he should be arrested.
The New York Times first reported the development.
Smith on Friday asked for a suspension of deadlines in Trump’s election interference case, noting both the unprecedented nature of a president entering office while facing charges as well as a Justice Department (DOJ) memo barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
The government needs “time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” the department wrote.
DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) advises against the criminal prosecution of a sitting president, concluding in 1973 that “criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions.”
Smith’s office declined to comment.