The US Department of Justice has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate former President Donald Trump. The prosecutor will oversee both the investigation related to the management of confidential government documents and the investigation into the former president’s attempts to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election, Reuters and News.ro reported.

Jack Smith, the former chief prosecutor of the special tribunal in The Hague that investigated war crimes in Kosovo, will oversee the investigation, Justice Department Chief Merrick Garland said, according to CNN.

Jack Smith “has developed a reputation as an impartial and steadfast prosecutor,” Garland said.

This is the third time since 2017 that the Ministry of Justice has appointed a special prosecutor to handle a politically sensitive case. Such prosecutors usually have a high degree of independence to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in 2017 to oversee the federal investigation into Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and his contacts with Russia, and in 2019 John Durham was appointed to investigate how the FBI came to investigate the Trump campaign in in 2016.

The announcement of the appointment of an independent prosecutor in the investigation of Donald Trump comes in the context of the fact that the Republican has decided to run for another presidential term in 2024.

“Based on recent events, including the former president’s announcement that he is running for president in the next election, and the current president’s announcement that he intends to run for office as well, we have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor. ” he told Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Donald Trump has tried to portray the investigations as politically motivated and even mentioned them on Tuesday when he announced he would run again.