The Justice Department will likely conclude its investigation into special counsel Jack Smith sometime next year, the Washington Examiner reported. The agency launched a probe into how his office handled President-elect Donald Trump's criminal investigations.
The update came from a letter the Examiner obtained that was sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH). It covered details of a meeting between the committee and Jeffrey Ragsdale, head of the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility.
Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriante penned the letter and noted Ragsdale's expected end date. "While he cannot guarantee a specific time frame to complete a thorough investigation of the matter, his office is moving expeditiously, and he expects that the review will conclude in 2025," Uriarte wrote.
He added that Ragsdale "would expect that the Department would likely be willing to provide the final report [on the misconduct investigation] to Congress" when it's finished. However, many believe that Smith will resign once Trump takes office whether he's guilty or not.
Jordan and his committee will be privy to the findings of the investigation launched during the run-up to the 2024 presidential campaign. The Washington Post reported that the Justice Department typically doesn't conduct these reviews until pending cases are resolved.
“Such a practice ensures that the OPR process is not inappropriately used to disrupt an ongoing prosecution and avoids interference with the court’s own supervision of the case. The policy also allows OPR to consider the allegations as a whole, after the record is complete, and in the context of the full litigation," the letter to Jordan said.
Smith has been wrapping up his two federal cases since Trump was elected president. Both the classified documents case and a case involving Trump's supposed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election are moot since the Justice Department won't prosecute a sitting president.
This opens the door to an internal review into allegations levied by Trump and his team. It will look into whether the FBI tampered with evidence after it raided Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago residence, as some GOP lawmakers have charged.
It will also examine a complaint involving Jay Bratt, a member of the special counsel and veteran prosecutor, who may have leveraged a job for an attorney who represented one of Trump's co-defendants. Bratt allegedly mentioned Stanley Woodward's application for judgeship while trying to get the attorney's client to testify.
Whether or not there is any provable misconduct, the fact remains that Smith is guilty of wasting taxpayer money. According to Fox News, it cost taxpayers at least $50 million to go after Trump, and he came up empty in the end.
Smith was appointed in November 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the election interference and classified documents allegations the same month Trump announced his candidacy for president. Once the cost was made clear last month, Trump unleashed against Smith and the rest of the partisan hacks who tried to jail him.
"These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME," Trump wrote last month. "Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before."
Smith will likely slink away into obscurity before Trump can fire him. However, the investigation, the mug shot he forced Trump to pose for, and Trump's eventual vindication will forever be embedded in the story of his incredible comeback against his foes.
