Washington (EFE) as The Hague prosecutor for war crimes in Kosovo.
His name came to the forefront of the public sphere last November, when the United States Attorney General, Merrick Garland, announced that he was entrusted with the investigations into Trump’s involvement in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and on the theft of classified documents, a case for which the former president now faces 37 criminal charges.
Smith, who just turned 55, began his career in 1994 as an assistant New York County district attorney. Five years later he became the Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
In that last position, he investigated civil rights violations for nine years. He was involved in the prosecution of police officer Charles Schwarz, convicted of torturing a Haitian immigrant, and in the conviction of drug trafficker Ronell Wilson, also found guilty, in his case for the murder of two New York agents operating undercover.
Who is Jack Smith?
With a law degree from Harvard University, Smith stood out from the beginning of his career. He was more focused than the rest of his classmates, The New York Times reported this week, and was known for a succinct and effective courtroom style.
“We have a set of laws in the United States and they apply to the whole world. My team will seek a speedy trial,” he said this Friday when he briefly appeared before the press after the indictment against Trump for the classified documents he took from the White House when he left power in 2021 became known.
Smith is used to pressure. From 2008 to 2010 he worked as Investigations Coordinator at the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court, thus supervising war crimes. And in 2010 he returned to the Department of Justice to lead its Public Integrity unit until 2015.
Among his most prominent corruption cases, according to the New York Times, was the conviction against former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell, later annulled by the Supreme Court, or against former Arizona legislator Rick Renzi, pardoned by Trump in the twilight of his presidency.
“If I were the type of person who could be cornered, I would look for another job,” said the now special prosecutor in 2010, a year before his wedding to filmmaker Katy Chevigny, producer of the documentary “Becoming,” about former first lady Michelle Obama. .
Investigate Trump
Smith returned to The Hague in 2018, this time as the new chief prosecutor for the special court charged with prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo. At that time, it was noted that his extensive experience would allow him to lead the investigations of the specialized prosecutor’s office and any criminal proceedings that arose from them.
And in 2022 one of the most important requests of his career came to him, the one that put Trump in his sights.
In these months, he and his team questioned White House officials, Trump aides and staff at his Mar-a-Lago (Florida) mansion until they reached the conclusion announced this Thursday, which charged the former president, among other charges, with for illegal withholding of government secrets, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.
Trump, who must appear in court next Tuesday, reiterated this week that he is the victim of an unprecedented “witch hunt”. Smith stressed this Friday in turn that no one is above the law.
That tenacity in the professional field also applies to his personal life. He has finished more than 100 triathlons and at least nine Iron