Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Kenneth Polite and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, right, listen, as Attorney General Merrick Garland announces Jack Smith as special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the presence of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate and aspects of a separate probe involving the Jan. 6 insurrection and efforts to undo the 2020 election, at the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:35 PM PT – Friday, November 18, 2022

Attorney General Merrick Garland has named a special counsel to see if former President Donald J. Trump should face charges stemming from ongoing Department of Justice investigations.

On Friday, Garland appointed Jack Smith to oversee the probes into Trump. That includes those related to the documents taken from the raid on Mar-a-Lago and the January 6th protest in Washington D.C.

Jack Smith began his prosecutorial career in 1994. He was an assistant District Attorney with the New York County District Attorney’s office.

Since 2018, he has served as the chief prosecutor for the special court in the Hague charged with investigating and adjudicating war crimes in Kosovo.

Garland also said Smith will be returning to the United States right away. This information comes as Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the investigations.

People wear face coverings inside Grand Central Market on December 15, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:19 PM PT – Friday, November 18, 2022

Los Angeles County is once again recommending residents to mask up. This is due to the fact that COVID-19 infections within the City of Angels have sharply risen since the start of November.

On Thursday, officials shifted back to “strongly recommending” mask-wearing in all indoor public settings. The recommendation is not ruled as a mask mandate.

County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis spoke about the new recommendation.

“Now it is strongly recommended that all individuals wear a high-quality mask that fits well in the following settings: in public indoor spaces; when using public transit, including buses, ride-shares, taxis and medical transport; correctional and detention facilities; and homeless and emergency shelters,” Davis said.

Over the past few months, indoor mask wearing by Los Angeles County residents has been a matter of personal preference. However, masks have been required in all healthcare facilities, congregate-care facilities and for anyone who was exposed to the virus within the past 10 days.

This comes amid a rise in the county’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 infections. The County is reporting about 1,500 new cases per day. That number is up from the 1,300 new cases per day that was reported over a week ago.

L.A. Healthcare officials have teased the return of the mask mandate since this summer.