Originally Published: September 13, 2023 12:20 p.m.
As he has pursued the unprecedented and complex case against former President Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, Special Counsel Jack Smith has had help from a longtime colleague. Joseph "J.P." Cooney is a veteran federal prosecutor with a deep distaste for corruption and a hard charging approach.
Cooney, court filings and former colleagues say, currently holds the title of "deputy special counsel" in Smith's investigation. TPM contacted over a dozen sources to get a sense of Cooney's life and work. Multiple sources described him as one of Smith's longtime deputies who is playing a leading role on the Jan. 6 case.
A review of Cooney's career as a prosecutor shows he has not shied away from pursuing prominent politicians. He has also helped score two convictions of members of Trump's inner circle. Cooney's college writings also show hints of his personal views including an early focus on corruption. His role on Smith's team is notable not only for his close relationship with the special counsel, which was built over many years within the DOJ, but also because, before Smith's November 2022 appointment, Cooney reportedly advocated for directly focusing on the role of Trump's top advisers. It was an aggressive strategy that is in keeping with a reputation for willingness to take on high-level power players that Cooney has earned throughout his career.
Colleagues described Cooney as a diligent, dogged attorney whose fast-moving approach matches Smith's own. However, amid what was largely praise for his work, one former co-worker said that, early in his career, Cooney may have been too aggressive for his own good. And, naturally, Cooney's targets–including a U.S. senator whose's prosecution ended in a mistrial–have also had their share of complaints.
Cooney's world is not an easy one to penetrate. Due to the ongoing cases and fact many of his current and former associates have their own sensitive jobs in the legal profession, the vast majority of the sources who were willing to discuss his work requested anonymity. Multiple sources offered insights while refusing to be quoted directly. Cooney did not respond to a request for comment and a Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Smith's investigation has been resistant to leaks and the DOJ has released little information beyond what is contained in court filings. Prior to Smith's appointment, Cooney was reportedly overseeing an investigation into financial crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. In his current role as Smith's deputy, it is unclear precisely which aspects of the case Cooney is focused on or whether he is operating in a more general organizational capacity.
According to one former law school classmate, Cooney's path to public service began with his upbringing in a "very Irish Catholic family." Cooney's father, Joseph Cooney, who passed away last year, didn't just pass his name and a love of the New York Yankees onto his son. He also instilled in Cooney, who grew up in Northern Virginia's D.C. suburbs, what the classmate described as a "sense of duty."
The younger Cooney followed his father's footsteps to Notre Dame University and to the legal profession. At Notre Dame in the late 1990's, Cooney displayed both an interest in government and early ambition. Archives of the school newspaper show that Cooney was a writer and a political columnist. He wrote about his frustration with "classic Washington power-politics at work" and campaign finance "corruption." While he criticized both parties, Cooney made his own allegiances clear in a 1997 column where he suggested the country needed a new "progressivism."
"The American people lie in wait for an attractive and appealing political movement which they can grab hold of," Cooney wrote. "The answer lies in a new Left."
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