Well, well, well—look who’s back in the headlines. Jack Smith, the so-called “independent” special counsel who spent years trying (and failing) to take down President Donald Trump, is now facing scrutiny himself. Turns out, Smith received a very generous $140,000 in free legal services from Covington & Burling, an elite D.C. law firm deeply tied to the Obama administration. And this revelation comes just as he quietly exited the Department of Justice last month.
Now, let’s break this down. According to a financial disclosure obtained by Politico, Covington provided Smith with legal assistance pro bono—as in, free of charge. The DOJ supposedly approved it under a 2023 Office of Government Ethics regulation that allows federal employees to accept free legal services if the work relates to their official duties.
But here’s the catch: these arrangements must be cleared by agency ethics officials and disclosed on financial filings. And, wouldn’t you know it, Acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin—whom Trump just nominated to permanently lead the D.C. office—is already hinting at an investigation.
How on earth is it legal for a law firm with clients and business before DOJ to provide $140,000 in free gifts to a top DOJ official?
DOJ rules and federal regulations explicitly prohibit officials like Jack Smith from accepting or soliciting gifts.
Smith, who did not receive a… https://t.co/3Us8VDP7wY pic.twitter.com/cddz3eX7ck
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 15, 2025
Let’s not forget who we’re dealing with here. Covington & Burling isn’t just any law firm. This is the same firm that’s home to Obama’s former Attorney General Eric Holder, a man who famously declined to prosecute major banks after the 2008 financial crisis. You know, the same Holder who once said that going after financial fraud too aggressively could mean banks “might not want to work with me.” And now, conveniently, he’s resurfaced in 2024—hired to vet vice presidential candidates for Kamala Harris after the Democratic establishment shoved Joe Biden off the ballot.
But back to Smith. He didn’t disclose why he needed outside legal help, but his ties to Covington run deep. Multiple high-profile Covington attorneys have worked closely with him in the past, including Alan Vinegrad, who assigned Smith to a major police abuse case in New York, and Lanny Breuer, Covington’s vice chair, who personally recruited Smith to lead the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section back in 2010. Breuer, of course, wasted no time publicly defending Smith when he was appointed special counsel, telling The New York Times, “Jack is not political at all. He is straight down the middle.”
Save your receipts, Smith and Covington. We’ll be in touch soon. #NoOneIsAboveTheLaw
“Special counsel Jack Smith discloses ‘gift’ of $140,000 in free legal services” – POLITICO https://t.co/p6uZ1qC6oI
— U.S. Attorney Ed Martin (@USAEdMartin) February 15, 2025
Right. Because spending more than $50 million in taxpayer funds to prosecute a political opponent—only to see those cases start falling apart—definitely screams “non-political.”
Trump, for his part, never minced words about Smith, calling him and his team “thug prosecutors” and repeatedly saying they should be thrown in jail for weaponizing the justice system. And guess what? The Trump administration isn’t just letting this one slide. Within one week of Inauguration Day, Trump’s Justice Department cleaned house, firing more than a dozen attorneys who worked on Smith’s politically motivated cases. Attorney General Pam Bondi even set up a dedicated anti-weaponization task force—one that’s already looking into Smith and his former staff.
