US Attorney-General Merrick Garland announced on Friday that he has appointed an independent prosecutor to oversee the investigation into former president Donald Trump.
Jack Smith, who served until recently in the special court in the Hague, will begin working as special counsel immediately, US broadcasters CNN and NBC quoted the attorney general as saying.
His appointment came just three days after Trump announced his candidature for the 2024 presidential election.
Smith, a long-time prosecutor with the US Justice Department, was, since 2018, a chief prosecutor for the special court in the Hague, where he investigated war crimes committed during the war in Kosovo.
'An impartial and determined prosecutor'
Garland said on announcing his appointment that Smith "has built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor, who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts, wherever they lead."
He "is the right choice to complete these matters in an even-handed and urgent manner," he added.
Among other things, the special council will oversee the investigations into the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, and any role Trump may have had in it, as well as the ex-president's handling of classified White House records after leaving office - and determine whether to recommend charges against the former president.
Smith said in a statement that he intended "to conduct the assigned investigations, and any prosecutions that may result from them, independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice," USA Today reported.
