Special Counsel Jack Smith is gearing up for a significant legal showdown, as he prepares to put former President Donald Trump on trial in both Washington and Florida next year. In a strategic move, Smith has welcomed a seasoned war crimes prosecutor, Alex Whiting, to his legal team. Whiting, who previously served as Smith’s deputy during their time at the Hague, brings a wealth of experience to the table.
The two legal minds collaborated for three years, working on prosecuting crimes against humanity stemming from events in Kosovo during the late 1990s. Whiting’s impressive legal journey also includes a role as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court from 2010 to 2013. He has been an educator at Harvard University since 2007, initially hired as an assistant professor by then-Dean Elena Kagan, who is now a Supreme Court justice.
While the exact role that Whiting will play on Smith’s team remains undisclosed, a spokesperson for Smith declined to comment. Whiting, too, has remained tight-lipped, not responding to requests for comment. Neither the prosecutors’ office in the Hague nor Harvard University provided comments on Whiting’s current employment status.
However, a LEAKXTRA reporter spotted Whiting at the U.S. district courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday and Thursday. He spent several hours observing the trial of a defendant linked to the events of January 6. Notably, Judge Tanya Chutkan, presiding over the January 6 case, is set to oversee Trump’s trial in March regarding federal charges related to his actions in the 2020 election.
During a break in the January 6 trial, Whiting introduced himself to fellow prosecutors as a new member of Smith’s team, mentioning that he had “just joined” the office.
Smith, who served as the chief prosecutor in the Kosovo Specialist Chamber in the Hague from 2018 to 2022, was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to lead the investigations into Trump. Whiting temporarily took over Smith’s role last year during the transition. Boston attorney Kim West was subsequently appointed as Smith’s permanent successor in June but did not assume the role immediately.
Whiting has been an active commentator on the previous special counsel, Robert Mueller, who investigated potential links between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign. He authored numerous articles and gave interviews assessing the strength of Mueller’s case against Trump, often aligning with those who believed Trump faced significant legal jeopardy for his attempts to hinder the investigation. Whiting’s Twitter account seems to have been deleted, with a Wayback Machine search suggesting it was inactive since mid-2022.
Whiting’s inclusion on Smith’s team signals a new phase in their efforts – the preparation for trials that could result in a former U.S. president facing imprisonment for the first time in history.
This hiring also reflects Smith’s tendency to collaborate with trusted allies from various stages of his career. His top deputies, David Harbach and Raymond Hulser, who worked closely with Smith during his tenure at the Justice Department under the Obama administration, have also been spotted in the Washington, D.C., federal courthouse, monitoring proceedings relevant to their cases.
Harbach, in particular, attended parts of the jury selection process for former Trump adviser Peter Navarro, who is represented by attorney Stanley Woodward. Woodward also happens to be the legal counsel for Walt Nauta, Trump’s co-defendant in another criminal case related to highly sensitive national security documents found at his Florida estate.
It remains unclear whether Whiting’s presence at Judge Chutkan’s trial was a personal initiative or if he was there on assignment from the special counsel’s office. In addition to his work on war crimes, which included prosecuting three war crimes cases stemming from the Kosovo conflict, Whiting spent seven years prosecuting organized crime in Boston for the Justice Department from 1995 to 2002.
