A US federal agency has opened a formal investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw two criminal probes into President Donald Trump following his first term in the White House.
The Office of Special Counsel confirmed 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 US Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican.
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 was appointed by former Attorney General Merrick Garland three days before Trump announced his re-election bid in November 2022.
He was tasked with taking over two investigations into Trump's handling of classified documents and his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
Both cases resulted in criminal charges against Trump, who pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. But the cases were closed after Trump won re-election.
'Abnormal request'
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.
"Special Counsel Smith tried to bypass the normal process and go right to the Supreme Court, but gave no reason why his abnormal request should be granted," he said.
"That's why I've asked this unprecedented interference in the 2024 election be immediately investigated by OSC."
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.
