The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has opened a formal investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led two criminal prosecutions against Donald Trump, to determine if he violated the Hatch Act. The law prohibits federal employees from using their official positions for political purposes.
The probe was initiated following a request from Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who accused Smith of weaponizing his office to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. “I’ve asked this unprecedented interference in the 2024 election be immediately investigated by OSC,” Cotton wrote on the social media platform X, labeling Smith “a political actor masquerading as a public official.”
The OSC is an independent federal agency responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act and protecting federal employees from prohibited personnel practices; it is separate from the Department of Justice-appointed special counsel role that Smith held and does not have the power to bring criminal charges.
Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor, oversaw two high-profile cases against Trump. One case centered on the former president’s alleged illegal retention of classified materials, and the other on his efforts to overturn the 2020 election loss, which led to the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Neither case went to trial due to a series of legal challenges and delays, including a Supreme Court ruling that granted former presidents broad immunity from prosecution. Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the election, citing DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president. However, he released a report in January asserting that the evidence gathered would have been sufficient to convict Trump at trial.
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has characterized the prosecutions as politically motivated.
