Sen. Tom Cotton says probe of former special counsel Jack Smith shows nobody ‘above the law’

Sen. Tom Cotton confirmed Monday that former special counsel Jack Smith is under investigation for his probes into President Trump during the 2024 election.

“I can confirm that the Office of Special Counsel has opened an investigation into Jack Smith’s conduct during the election. No one is above the law,” the Arkansas Republican posted on X. “I encourage OSC to release as much information as possible to the public, and do it as quickly as possible.”

Last week, Mr. Cotton had requested a probe into Mr. Smith’s election conduct, saying it amounted to “unprecedented interference.”

The Office of Special Counsel is a federal agency that probes violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from advocating or participating in political activity.

The agency could seek disciplinary action for a Hatch Act violation or refer its findings to the Justice Department.

A spokesperson from OSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The former head of the agency, Hampton Dellinger, was fired by Mr. Trump in February and fought his firing in the courts. A federal appeals court, however, green-lighted Mr. Trump’s decision to remove Mr. Dellinger. Mr. Dellinger declined to appeal to the high court, abandoning his legal fight.

Mr. Trump replaced him with an ally, former Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, who is also the secretary of veterans affairs.

Mr. Smith, meanwhile, is no longer a government employee. He was appointed as special counsel to probe Mr. Trump’s conduct protesting the results of the 2020 election.

He brought an unprecedented election fraud case against the former president during the 2024 campaign and also indicted him for keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

A Florida judge ruled Mr. Smith lacked standing to bring the charges over the classified documents case as he was a private citizen — and not Senate-confirmed — when he was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Both cases were dismissed without prejudice after Mr. Trump won the election.

Mr. Smith cited Justice Department guidance that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted in requesting the courts dismiss his cases against Mr. Trump.

While the federal prosecutions ended after the election, Mr. Trump still has appeals ongoing in New York over his criminal conviction in Manhattan and his prosecution in Fulton County, Georgia, also related to the 2020 election, is on hold after District Attorney Fani Willis was removed from the case over a conflict of interest. She had appointed her boyfriend, Nathan Wade, as special prosecutor in the legal battle, paying him a heavy salary with county funds.