Author: Andrew Guswold and Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Jack Smith, the former U.S. Justice Department special counsel who prosecuted Republican President Donald Trump after he entered the White House, is launching a new law firm with three other former prosecutors.
Smith co-founded the firm with Tim Heaphy, David Harbach and Thomas Windom, all former federal prosecutors with decades of public service experience.
The firm will be launched in January and will provide a full range of legal services, including investigations and litigation, Heaphy said in a statement. He said the team will design legal practices focused on “integrity, commitment and passionate advocacy” for both public and private clients.
These lawyers all played a leading role in investigating Trump during his ouster. Smith and two members of his team, Halbach and Windom, obtained an indictment against Trump for trying to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat and illegally withholding classified documents.
Heaphy, a former U.S. attorney during the Obama era, is the lead investigative lawyer for a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s broader efforts to cling to power after losing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.
Heaphy is leaving Willkie Farr & Gallagher, one of nine law firms that struck a deal with Trump in April to avoid an executive order targeting its practices. Heaphy joins Willkie in 2023.
Wilkie, who has defended his agreement with the White House, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Justice Department. Attorneys for Smith and Windom did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Harbach could not immediately be reached.
After Trump won the 2024 election, Smith dropped the criminal case he was overseeing, citing the Justice Department’s policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
The Justice Department under Trump has sharply criticized the cases and fired career prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on them, claiming they represented the government’s weaponization of the case against Trump.
Smith defended his investigation and called claims of political influence “ridiculous.” He will undergo closed-door testimony next week before the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Mike Scarcella in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Matthew Lewis)
