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A fact from Jack Smith (lawyer) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 31 December 2022 ( check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trump, played football for Liverpool? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2022/December. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Jack Smith (lawyer).

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no ref for In November 2022, attorney general Merrick Garland appointed Smith NotQualified ( talk) 00:37, 6 March 2024 (UTC) reply

That text is found in the lede. As the lede is a summary of later material that is cited, per WP:LEDECITE, it doesn't need citations of its own. Bremps ... 01:43, 10 April 2024 (UTC) reply

You should be aware that Jack Smith's prosecution of Virginia governor Bob McDonnell was overturned unanimously by the Supreme Court. In addition, his case against Sen. John Edwards was laughed out of the courtroom. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-rules-unanimously-in-favor-of-former-va-robert-f-mcdonnell-in-corruption-case/2016/06/27/38526a94-3c75-11e6-a66f-aa6c1883b6b1_story.html 199.16.219.210 ( talk) 19:06, 26 March 2024 (UTC) reply

 Done Good call, added. Bremps ... 01:41, 10 April 2024 (UTC) reply

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Right-align picture of Smith in the Career section. Reason: MOS:SANDWICH. It partially overlaps with the infobox. 211.43.120.242 ( talk) 14:34, 1 July 2024 (UTC) reply

 Done Jamedeus ( talk) 03:32, 2 July 2024 (UTC) reply

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Please edit this page to include the FACT that https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-VI/part-600 "The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted" gives the Attorney General the right to appoint a Special Counsel. Please CHANGE the "Unlawful" heading under his picture as it is clearly misleading and patently false. Andy Cowen ( talk) 18:03, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

 Done Acroterion (talk) 18:11, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

An editor changed the infobox parameter from "incumbent" to "illegal" in the infobox as part of a series of other edits (see above), causing me to revert them all and to ask for an explanation of why they imagined that this was appropriate. They are invited to make a case in Wikipedia policy for their edits. I have not reviewed all of the other edits to see if they also breach NPOV or SYNTH, editors are welcome to reinstate appropriate edits as they see fit, within policy. Acroterion (talk) 18:51, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

See below, please. I'm open to having my edits reviewed, but please provide a reason you suspect me of trying to breach NPOV or SYNTH. That's like me saying "Acroterion has never denied setting fire to an orphanage." Again, let's have a civil discussion about content without innuendo about my character. Bremps ... 19:03, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

@ Acroterion I ask that you strike out the text containing the wink-nod implications about me. Again, I want this to be civil, and I'm assuming you're editing in good faith. Bremps ... 19:15, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

You made a good-faith edit, based on what I'm hearing, but introduced something well beyond what you might have meant to convey. I'm criticizing your edit, not your character. Acroterion (talk) 19:26, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

Bremps changed "Incumbent" to "Unlawful" with a link to Federal prosecution of Donald Trump (classified documents case)#Dismissal and appeal. They were reverted by Acroterion and again reverted by Muboshgu. I agree that the status should still read "Incumbent". The case may have been dismissed, but Jack Smith has not been dismissed from his post, and will be appealing Judge Cannon's ruling. Esowteric + Talk + Breadcrumbs 18:52, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

I probably won't have the energy to dispute this further (we'll see), but I want to be clear that I only changed the parameter upon Cannon's ruling that Smith's appointment was unlawful. I imitated the page on Chad Wolf, which I saw as precedent. Again, I am not adding the unlawful parameter based on personal feelings, only based on what reliable sources described as Cannon's ruling. Cannon, as a judge, is the arbiter of law until a higher court intervenes. "Unlawful" does not imply agreement or disagreement with Cannon's decision, it only reflects the legal reality at the time. Bremps ... 18:56, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

Smith remains incumbent special counsel. Why do you think what amounts to a BLP violation is appropriate? As for Wolf, think that's really inappropriate in an infobox too, and will remove it. Stuffing infoboxes with things that require context is one of the banes of infoboxes. Acroterion (talk) 19:05, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

Yes, there we go, a content argument. I concede you have a point, but I still think it should be reflected that his appointment was ruled unlawful (which is a fact) somewhere within the infobox. I'm agnostic as to whether it remains underneath his office parameter. Bremps ... 19:08, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply

Wikipedia isn't the news, infoboxes aren't vehicles for conveying something that is properly described in a paragraph, he's still special counsel, and please don't put things in infoboxes that look exactly like the kind of routine partisan soapboxing (or worse) that we get all the time. I understand that you meant it in good faith, but I think your judgment and excessive reliance on a single example to claim a precedent is flawed in this case. Your stretch of Cannon's opinion into something that overrides "incumbent" is indeed an inappropriate synthesis. As for the other edits, you are welcome to gain consensus to put them back, but I would appreciate it if other editors reviewed them first. Acroterion (talk) 19:19, 19 July 2024 (UTC) reply