In brief remarks after the release of a searing federal indictment against Donald Trump, the man appointed to lead the investigation into the former president’s alleged mishandling of national security documents after he left the White House has defended the charges against him, and urged Americans to read the historic filing in full.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland as an independent investigator with the US Department of Justice, stressed that laws intended to “protect national defence information are critical to the safety and security of the United States.”
