Federal agency opens probe into former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith
The Office of Special Counsel confirmed to Reuters that it was investigating whether Smith violated the Hatch Act, a law prohibiting federal employees from using their position for political activity. The decision follows a request for a probe by U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican.
The OSC is an independent agency that probes the conduct of federal employees, but it does not have the authority to bring criminal charges. It is different from the type of Special Counsel's office previously overseen by Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice to pursue criminal cases.
The OSC's investigation, which was first reported by the New York Post, is the latest in a series of actions taken by Trump and his allies against their perceived political enemies.
Smith, who resigned from his post in January following Trump's election victory, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier this week Cotton accused Smith of aggressively pursuing his cases against Trump with the aim of hurting his presidential campaign, calling Smith "a political actor masquerading as a public official" in a series of posts on X.
"That's why I've asked this unprecedented interference in the 2024 election be immediately investigated by OSC," Cotton wrote on X.
A former war crimes prosecutor, Smith brought two criminal cases against Trump: one accusing him of illegally retaining classified material and another related to Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, an effort that sparked the January 6, 2021, assault, opens new tab on the U.S. Capitol.
Neither case went to trial, having been delayed and buffeted by a series of legal challenges, including a ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority that granted former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution.
Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the election, citing a longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, but issued a report in January saying the evidence he gathered would have been enough to convict Trump at trial.
Trump denied wrongdoing and assailed the prosecutions as politically motivated attempts to damage his campaign.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fears emerge that Donald Trump could jeopardize NFL's blockbuster deal with ESPN
There are fears that Donald Trump could block the NFL's multi-billion-dollar deal with ESPN, according to reports. Earlier this month, the NFL and ESPN agreed a blockbuster deal that will see the network broadcast seven more regular-season games, and have access to NFL Network and RedZone. In return, it is reported that the NFL will receive equity in ESPN. The shock announcement, first reported by The Athletic, angered many football fans. But now Front Office Sports reports that Trump could intervene in the deal, which is expected to require sign-off from the government. There is reportedly 'growing concern' that the president could try to 'delay, or block' the billion-dollar agreement. Trump has a history of involving himself in sports - particularly the NFL. Only recently, he has been a vocal critic of the new kickoff rules and recently threatened to disrupt the Commanders' new stadium plans if Washington didn't change their name back to the Redskins. A decade ago, he tried and failed to buy the Buffalo Bills for $1billion. In 2017, meanwhile, he called on NFL owners to fire players who take a knee during the national anthem. Colin Kaepernick sparked a nationwide debate when he protested against police brutality and racial injustice. Other players followed suit and they soon incurred the wrath of the White House. 'Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, "Get that son of a b**** off the field right now?" Out. He's fired. He's FIRED!' Trump said during a rally in Alabama. A year later, the president canceled the traditional White House reception with the Super Bowl winners after it emerged that only a small number of Eagles players planned to attend. Trump claimed Philadelphia disagreed 'with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.' The president has also had feuds with ESPN and its parent company Disney. 'ESPN is paying a really big price for its politics (and bad programming). People are dumping it in RECORD numbers. Apologize for untruth!' he said in 2017.
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Family of Ethan Chapin break silence after Kohberger's sentencing
By The family of Idaho murders victim Ethan Chapin have spoken out for the first time since Bryan Kohberger was jailed for life for slaughtering their son and his three friends inside a college home. Chapin's parents Jim and Stacy Chapin and triplet siblings Maizie and Hunter chose not to attend Kohberger's sentencing at Ada County Courthouse in Boise last week or share a victim impact statement to be read on their behalf. Instead, they planned to spend the day together as a family honoring the 20-year-old freshman at their home in Priest Lake, Idaho. Now, one week on, the Chapin family has released a separate statement on Instagram voicing their support for the outcome of the case and paying tribute to their son who 'touched so many lives.' 'We've given a lot of thought to what we should say since 7/23 and have edited this a million times,' they said, alongside a series of photos of the family together. 'The entire situation has been a tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day, we believe the outcome is the right one.' Earlier this month, the Chapins voiced their support for a plea deal which saw Kohberger plead guilty to the murders of Chapin, his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, both 20, and 21-year-old best friends Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. In the early hours of November 13, 2022, Kohberger broke into the off-campus student home at 1122 King Road in Moscow and stabbed the four victims to death. The 30-year-old criminology PhD student was arrested around six weeks later on December 30, 2022, at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, where he had gone for the holidays. After spending more than two years fighting the charges, Kohberger finally confessed to his crimes during a change of plea hearing on July 2. That was the only court hearing the Chapin family attended in the killer's case, as a show of support for the plea deal. On July 23, Judge Steven Hippler handed Kohberger four life sentences with no possibility of parole for each count of first-degree murder and an additional 10 years for burglary. Under the terms of the deal - which spared him from the death penalty - Kohberger has waived his right to ever appeal. In the Chapin family's statement, they did not name or mention the killer but took the moment to thank their son for the 'many ways you brought happiness and light to any situation'. 'Thank you, Ethan. You were only with us for 20 years, but you touched the lives of so many people,' they said. 'From the time you were a baby to when we dropped you off at college, you were an absolute joy and the glue that held our family together. 'We remember your smile, your laugh, how you kept us in check, and the many ways you brought happiness and light to any situation. There will never be another you. There would never have been enough time with you. We love you, miss you, and promise to continue honoring your legacy.' The Chapin family also thanked 'the true heroes in our lives' including the multiple law enforcement agencies and prosecutors who worked on the case, the University of Idaho staff who supported them and the media for sharing their story. The family also thanked everyone who has supported them including the students' friends who 'all have suffered severe loss and trauma.' 'Our incredible extended family, friends, and the communities that continue to lift us up every day. They're our backbone, and we recognize how fortunate and privileged we are to have this ongoing support,' the statement read. 'All of the kids!! Close friends of the triplets, Greek family, and others who were part of this story from the very beginning. 'Although each of their experiences is different, all have suffered severe loss and trauma. We continue to be in awe of their strength, and will continue to support them in any way we can.' Chapin had been in his freshman year at the University of Idaho, where he majored in sports management and was part of the Sigma Chi fraternity. The athletic, outgoing student was dating Kernodle and was staying at her student home on the night of the murders. Stacy told the Daily Mail earlier this month that 'he was the clown of the family and he lifted any room that we were all in'. 'I would say he was the top of the triplet pyramid. All things went through Ethan. He kept us all in check,' she said. She also revealed that the family had made a decision to 'forge ahead' with life in the months after their son's murder. 'My husband Jim and I just made a decision one morning. We were like, OK, we're not getting anywhere. This is not a true measure of success for us and our kids and our family,' she said. 'And so we just decided from that day forward, we'd get up, shower, and forge ahead.' The families of the three other victims delivered emotional victim impact statements during last week's sentencing, where they confronted the man who slaughtered their loved ones while they slept. Goncalves' older sister Alivea Goncalves tore into Kohberger as a 'delusional, pathetic, hypochondriadic loser' and demanded: 'Sit up straight when I talk to you.' 'I won't stand her and give you what you want, I won't give you tears… instead I will call you what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer,' as Kohberger looked on intently. She concluded with the fiery comment: 'If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your [expletive] ass.' Surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen - who came face-to-face with Kohberger moments after he murdered her friends - sobbed uncontrollably as she told him he was a 'hollow vessel' and 'less than human.' While the families and friends voiced their heartbreak, grief and fury at his crimes, Kohberger stared blankly without showing a flicker of emotion or remorse. When it was his chance to speak, he uttered the three words, 'I respectfully decline' - refusing the chance to reveal his motive and leaving the victims' families in the dark about the murders. Despite his guilty plea, many unanswered questions remain, including Kohberger's motive, who his intended target was and why he chose his victims. However, new information is starting to be made public since Moscow Police released a trove of 314 records from the investigation that ultimately led to Kohberger's arrest. Among the revelations are reports from the victims' friends and surviving roommates that there had been a string of disturbing incidents at 1122 King Road in the lead-up to the murders. Goncalves had told friends she had seen a man watching her in the trees around the home and the roommates had come home to find the front door open one day. It is not clear if these incidents are related to Kohberger but cell phone evidence does indicate he was surveilling the home months before the murders. Kohberger is now being held in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution where he will see out his dying days.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Sydney Sweeney's Republican voter registration revealed amid jeans ad controversy
Sydney Sweeney registered as a Republican voter in Florida a few months before Donald Trump won a second US presidency, it has been revealed, as the public continues fixating on a new jeans ad campaign featuring the actor and a pun about her genes. The Euphoria and White Lotus star registered to vote in Florida on 14 June 2024 – shortly after buying a mansion in the Keys – and listed her party affiliation as Republican, according to publicly available records reviewed by the Guardian on Sunday. That was about two weeks after Trump, another registered Republican Florida voter, was convicted in New York City of criminal falsification of business records and before he secured a return to the White House in November's presidential election. It was also about two years after Sweeney, 27, faced criticism from some US media consumers after she was photographed at her mother's birthday party where several of the guests were seen wearing hats that called to mind those which bear Trump's Make America Great Again (Maga) slogan. The native of Spokane, Washington, subsequently issued a statement on social media pleading with the public to 'stop making assumptions'. 'An innocent celebration … has turned into an absurd political statement, which was not the intention,' Sweeney's statement added at the time. Sweeney has not addressed her Florida Republican voter registration, the existence of which went viral on social media on Saturday and was later reported on by traditional news outlets. The actor by then had generated considerable media coverage after the outfitter American Eagle released several videos showing her modeling the company's denim jeans and jackets. American Eagle's campaign generally revolves around the punny use of the phrase, 'Sydney Sweeney has great genes.' In one video, 'genes' is crossed out and replaced with 'jeans'. Another clip showed the blue-eyed blond suggestively looking at the camera and discussing how her body's composition 'is determined by … genes'. 'Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue,' Sweeney continues in the advertisements, which include a joke about the cameraperson becoming distracted by her breasts. Some social media users dismissed the campaign as tone deaf, arguing that it echoed rhetoric associated with eugenics and white supremacy at a time when the Trump administration was seeking to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as well as aggressively pushing to detain and deport immigrants en masse. One TikTok reaction video that received hundreds of thousands of likes accused Sweeney of ignoring the political climate of the moment, saying 'it's literally giving … Nazi propaganda'. US conservatives have seized on the indignation over the campaign on the liberal fringes, rushing to praise Sweeney for landing a blow on 'woke' advertising, invoking a term some use to criticize DEI measures. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on social media that criticizing Sweeney's collaboration with American Eagle was 'cancel culture run amok'. Nonetheless, many have judged backlash to Sweeney and American Eagle's collaboration as exaggerated and overblown. American Eagle's stock has reportedly risen in the wake of its Sweeney-centered campaign. A statement from the company on Friday defended the campaign, saying: ''Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story.' That outcome cut a stark contrast with the 2023 Bud Light advertisement involving trans activist Dylan Mulvaney. A conservative-organized boycott against Bud Light substantially drove sales down. The brand lost its place as the US beer market's top seller. And Bud Light's owner, Anheuser-Busch, sought to distance itself from Mulvaney in a statement which blamed the promotion on an 'outside agency without … management awareness or approval'. 'No one was trying to cancel Sydney Sweeney,' said a post on the X account Wu Tang is for the Children, which counts on more than 270,000 followers. 'And no one cares if she's Republican or not.'
