In May 2014, the Obama/Biden White House was scrambling to deflect questions related to Hunter Biden’s new gig as a board member at Burisma, the compromised Ukrainian energy conglomerate; the news came just a few weeks after Vice President Joe Biden visited Kiev and promised Ukrainian leaders that the U.S. was “ready to assist” the country’s efforts to accelerate natural gas exploration. (At the time, Burisma was Ukraine’s biggest natural gas producer.)

Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year to take over DOJs dual investigations into Donald Trump for alleged mishandling of classified documents and the events of January 6—was named chief of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, or PIN, in August 2010.

Operating within the criminal division, PIN maintains broad purview over public corruption investigations on the federal, state, and local level including cases tied to “a government official…or someone associated with such an official,” according to the office’s annual report.

Smith held that powerful position until February 2015—meaning Hunter Biden’s years-long board position with Burisma ultimately resulting in a $4 million windfall for the vice president’s son began right under Jack Smith’s nose.

This is certainly contrary to what the public has been told about Jack Smith. The news media, “legal experts” in particular, insist Jack Smith is a no-nonsense federal prosecutor with unmatched integrity and devotion to the rule of law. Smith, according to his former DOJ colleague Andrew Weissmann, is a “consummate professional” and a “skilled and fast prosecutor who does not let the grass grow under his feet."

So, what happened? How did the keen-eyed, apolitical Smith and his 30-plus lawyers miss what was happening just blocks from their DOJ offices?