Ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith under investigation by government watchdog Office of Special Counsel

The U S Office of Special Counsel OSC is assessing former special counsel Jack Smith the OSC has approved to Fox News Smith was tapped in by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to serve as special counsel regarding two probes pertaining to then-former President Donald Trump The OSC is analyzing Smith for allegedly violating the Hatch Act which bars executive employees from partaking in political pursuits It is not a criminal scrutiny Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Saturday but did not receive a response TRUMP'S NOMINEE TO LEAD US OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL REFUTES ANTISEMITIC MAINTAINS AND TIES TO HOLOCAUST DENIERThe OSC is not the same as a special counsel appointed by an attorney general as Smith was but is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency according to its website OSC's statutory authority comes from four federal laws the Civil Function Modification Act the Whistleblower Protection Act the Hatch Act and the Uniformed Services Employment Reemployment Rights Act USERRA the website explains TRUMP CALLS JACK SMITH DESPERATE AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL STATEMENT IS PUBLISHED AFTER MIDNIGHTRepublican Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas in recent months questioned the OSC to look into whether Smith illegally engaged in political activity to influence the poll against Trump I write requesting the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith Special Counsel for Attorney General Merrick Garland unlawfully took political actions to influence the electoral contest to harm then-candidate President Donald Trump Cotton wrote in a July letter to Acting Special Counsel Jamieson Greer TOP GOP SENATOR DEMANDS PROBE INTO WHETHER JACK SMITH UNLAWFULLY TRIED TO INFLUENCE POLL President Trump of program vanquished Joe Biden Jack Smith every Democrat who weaponized the law against him but President Trump's astounding supremacy doesn't excuse Smith of responsibility for his unlawful electoral process interference I therefore ask the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether Jack Smith or any members of his crew unlawfully acted for political purposes Cotton wrote Fox News' David Spunt contributed to this summary