Approximately 26 federal agents have worked on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) special counsel investigations into former President Donald Trump, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte revealed in a letter June 15.
Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on 37 counts stemming from his alleged mishandling of national security material at his Mar-a-Lago home. He is also investigating Trump for his post-2020 election conduct. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio requested information about Smith’s investigations into Trump in a June 6 letter to DOJ.
DOJ also divulges to Jordan there are “26 Special Agents who worked either full or part-time on Special Counsel Smith’s investigations in some capacity”
DOJ will issue “a Statement of Expenditures summarizing the financial activity of the Special Counsel’s Office” through March
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) June 16, 2023
“Staffing for those investigations has fluctuated over time according to their status and resource needs,” Uriarte wrote. “With the understanding that these numbers are not static, the statement will reflect expenditures on approximately 26 Special Agents who worked either full or part-time on Special Counsel Smith’s investigations in some capacity during that timeframe. Additional Special Agents have been used from time to time for specific, discrete tasks related to the investigations.” (RELATED: Special Counsel Jack Smith Breaks Silence On Trump Indictment)
Uriarte also declined to answer questions about why and how the DOJ decided to conduct a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. The FBI’s search of the Florida estate turned up 11 sets of classified documents. Trump and his attorneys previously handed over 184 classified documents, including 25 marked “top secret,” 92 labeled “secret” and 67 marked “confidential,” to the National Archives and Records Administration.
“The Department’s longstanding protections for the confidentiality of such information reflect our duty to safeguard the integrity of our work,” Uriarte wrote in a separate letter. “Protecting the confidentiality of non-public information regarding investigations and prosecutions preserves the American people’s confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice by guarding against the appearance of political pressure or other improper attempts to influence Department decisions.”
Trump pleaded not guilty to the 37 counts at a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday. He later blasted the indictment as a “sham,” adding that he “did nothing wrong.”