From a story on axios.com by Herb Scribner headlined “AG Merrick Garland names special counsel in Trump criminal probes”:

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Friday that he is appointing veteran prosecutor Jack Smith as a special counsel to oversee the federal criminal investigations into former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and handling of classified documents.

Why it matters: The appointment of a special counsel is intended to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, and comes three days after Trump launched his 2024 presidential campaign.