Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two failed federal prosecutions against President-elect Donald J. Trump, resigned this week, according to a footnote buried in court papers — a remarkably muted conclusion to a fight that redefined the nation’s legal and political landscape.
Mr. Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor who fought a bitter and protracted battle on two fronts with the Trump legal team but lost in both a district court and in the Supreme Court shaped by Mr. Trump, left his offices in Washington on Friday, according to a senior law enforcement official.
His departure was expected. Mr. Smith had signaled his intention to leave before Mr. Trump, who had threatened to fire and punish him, took office on Jan. 20.
In the end, Mr. Smith made no formal announcement. His spokesman had no comment.
The special counsel departed after his efforts in the courtroom were essentially rendered moot by Mr. Trump’s political victory in November. Under a Justice Department policy prohibiting the pursuit of prosecutions against a sitting president, Mr. Smith was compelled to drop both of the cases he had filed against Mr. Trump in 2023 — one in Florida, accusing him of mishandling a trove of classified documents, and the other in Washington, on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election….
Now, Mr. Smith and the small team of veteran prosecutors who worked on the Trump cases may end up in the cross hairs of Republicans. Three of the Trump team lawyers he opposed have been given top positions in the Justice Department and the White House by Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly suggested that those who put him in the criminal dock should face consequences.
“I defeated deranged Jack Smith, he’s a deranged individual,” Mr. Trump told reporters in Florida this week. “We did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong on anything.”…