The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has opened an investigation into former special counsel Jack Smith, who may have unlawfully targeted President Donald Trump.
The OSC has Smith under a microscope regarding the possibility that he violated the Hatch Act, which says government workers are not allowed to take part in certain political activities, Fox News reported on Saturday, noting it received confirmation of the probe from the office and that Smith is not being criminally investigated.
The OSC is a government watchdog that operates independently as a federal investigative and prosecutorial office. In July, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked its members to investigate whether Smith, who was the special counsel for former Attorney General Merrick Garland, engaged in unlawful political activity to influence the 20204 presidential election and targeted Trump in doing so.
“President Trump of course vanquished Joe Biden, Jack Smith, every Democrat who weaponized the law against him, but President Trump’s astounding victory doesn’t excuse Smith of responsibility for his unlawful election interference. I therefore ask the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith or any members of his team unlawfully acted for political purposes,” the senator wrote in is request.
It’s going to be difficult for the media and Democrats to dismiss the U.S. Office of Special Counsel investigating former Special Counsel Jack Smith on allegations that he improperly used his prosecutorial powers to stop President Trump in 2024.
Smith was widely disparaged for trying to rush his Trump cases on classified documents and January 6 trial scheduling to occur before the 2024 election, violating the standard DOJ 60 day rule that prohibits DOJ action before a vote for the purpose of influencing elections.
He disobeyed a court-issued stay of proceedings, submitting discovery and filings after the order anyway on his January 6 case, which Rep Elise Stefanik described as “a lawless breach of trial ethics.”
He’s accused of timing trial proceedings to coincide with election milestones—such as the Iowa caucuses.
He filed a super-lengthy brief (165 pages) in the January 5 case just one month before the 2024 election that included secret grand jury testimony and was widely covered in the media, thereby disadvantaging Trump. His disclosure of sealed grand jury materials was widely seen as an attack on Trump.
Critics said it resembled a campaign opposition research dump, timed one month before the election.
Smith also chose favorable legal venues (e.g., Washington, D.C.) and judges (Tanya Chutkan) perceived as unfriendly to Trump. D.C. jury pools were viewed by critics as politically hostile to Trump.
Also he previously prosecuted Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) for corruption, a case the Supreme Court unanimously overturned in 2016.
This case has been used by Trump and allies to argue Smith has a pattern of overreaching with high-profile Republicans. (Read more: Breitbart, 8/3/2025) (Archive)