By Max Matza
Donald Trump denies any wrongdoing. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
An independent lawyer has been appointed to oversee the US justice department's criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump.
Jack Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor, was named special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in a news conference.
He will lead investigations into how Trump handled classified documents and his alleged role in the Capitol riot.
Trump, who is the subject of several other inquiries, denies any wrongdoing.
Smith will ultimately decide whether the former Republican president, who announced his 2024 candidacy just three days ago, will face criminal charges.
"In certain extraordinary cases it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution," Garland said on Friday.
"Due to recent developments, including the former president's announcement that he is a candidate in the next election, and the sitting president's intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest."
He said the move would give the public confidence in the investigation.
"I have never heard of such a thing, " Trump told Fox News on Friday after the decision was announced.
"They found nothing. I announce and then they appoint a special prosecutor. This is a disgrace and only happening because I am leading in every poll," he said.
Smith is a former prosecutor in New York and most recently served a chief prosecutor in the Hague where he investigated war crimes in Kosovo.
He will be returning to the US to begin his work immediately, Garland said.
"I intend to conduct the assigned investigations, and any prosecutions that may result from them, independently and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice," Smith said in a statement shortly after his appointment.
"The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch," he added. "I will exercise independent judgement and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate."
Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where he announced his presidential bid on Tuesday night, was searched by FBI agents in August. They seized top secret documents and are investigating whether he may have broken the law by keeping the documents there after he left the White House.
The justice department is also running a separate criminal investigation into the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot and broader efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election - but this has largely been shrouded in secrecy.
It is the largest police investigation in US history, but the extent to which Trump is a target is unclear.
Meanwhile, a committee in Congress has been examining the attack which saw supporters of Trump storm the Capitol building in Washington in an effort to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's victory.
The committee has hinted at the possibility that it will recommend to the justice department that Trump face criminal changes for his alleged role in the riot.
- BBC