Special Counsel

A judge has unsealed filings related to a subpoena issued by special counsel Jack Smith to obtain phone data from lawmakers. The use of subpoenas by Smith to acquire lawmakers' call records has been known since October.

Sen. Roger Marshall from the GOP called for a special counsel to investigate Dr. Anthony Fauci regarding the origins of COVID-19. He also sought to test the scope of former President Joe Biden's preemptive pardon of Fauci.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg's work in Chicago faces scrutiny over claims of improper conduct in seeking indictments, prompting defense attorneys to demand a special counsel to investigate U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros and his office for criminal contempt. Boutros announced a review of Mecklenburg's grand jury cases dating back to 2007, which could impact over 100 cases, amid questions about the reliability of information from his office under the legal doctrine of presumption of regularity.

A special counsel found that a government lawyer helped mislead a judge to release a man wanted for homicide abroad, though the inquiry into the Justice Department lawyer ended without disciplinary action. The report largely attributed responsibility to the Trump administration.

Former federal prosecutor Carmen Lineberger was indicted for sending a sealed special counsel report about Trump's classified documents investigation to her personal email, disguising it as a cake recipe. She worked in the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and faces charges including theft of government property and concealment.