Trump calls special counsel Jack Smith a 'Trump Hating THUG' on Truth Social

On January 12, 2023, roughly six weeks after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel over the Justice Department's investigations into him, Trump posted on Truth Social that Smith was "a Trump Hating THUG whose wife is a serial and open Trump Hater." Trump said Smith's "conflicts, unfairness, and mental state of derangement" made him "totally unfit for the job," and repeated an unverified claim, attributed to Ric Grenell, that Smith had imprisoned a "Trump positive" official while working as a prosecutor in Europe. Trump said investigators should instead focus on President Biden.