WASHINGTON — Prior to being named special counsel in the Trump investigations, Jack Smith most recently served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague, where he investigated war crimes committed during the Kosovo War.
On June 8, NBC News confirmed that Donald Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with Smith's investigation into the former president's mishandling of more than 100 classified documents, two sources confirmed to NBC News.
Smith's office and another grand jury based in Washington, D.C., have also been investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. That grand jury met on Tuesday, Aug. 1, after Trump said he received a letter informing him he is a target in the probe.
Here's what to know about Smith:
Before The Hague, Smith served as the vice president of litigation for the Hospital Corporation of America, the nation’s largest nongovernmental health care provider.
Smith began his prosecutorial career in 1994 as an assistant district attorney with the New York County District Attorney’s Office. In 1999, he became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where he worked for nine years prosecuting issues such as gang murders of police officers as well as civil rights violations, according to a bio from the Justice Department.
From 2008 to 2010, Smith worked at the International Criminal Court where he oversaw war crimes investigations.
In 2010, Smith returned to the Justice Department where he worked as chief of the Public Integrity Section, overseeing public corruption and elections-related investigations. In 2015, he served as the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee before becoming the acting United States attorney.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said when he named Smith as special counsel in November, that Smith would be returning to the U.S. from his position at The Hague and would begin his role as special counsel immediately.
