Donald Calvin "Don" Smaltz (born 1936/1937) is an American lawyer who served as the Independent Counsel appointed to investigate allegations that United States Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy had received improper gifts from companies with business before his department. His investigation, which ran from 1994 to 1998, resulted in Espy's acquittal but led to several convictions of associates and substantial fines for companies involved. He attended Pennsylvania State University followed by Dickinson School of Law, where he earned his J.D. degree in 1961.
Private practice
In 1975, Smaltz transitioned to private practice and gained national attention when he and another lawyer accused Watergate Special Prosecution Force prosecutors of misconduct, which led a judge to dismiss two indictments against Richard Nixon's personal tax attorney. Over the following years, Smaltz built a successful practice representing high-profile clients, namely the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and a bank with extensive connections to Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos.
Appointment as Independent Counsel
Background of the Espy case
In September 1994, a special three-judge panel appointed Smaltz as Independent Counsel to investigate allegations that Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy had received improper gifts from companies regulated by the USDA, particularly Tyson Foods. The appointment came at the request of Attorney General Janet Reno after an internal debate within the Justice Department.
The USDA's Inspector General had investigated press reports that Espy had received favorable treatment from Tyson Foods after Tyson executives provided him with perks like sports tickets. Career prosecutors in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section initially argued that the evidence of wrongdoing was too slight to justify prosecution, noting that one known Tyson gift was worth "less than $100." However, FBI officials strongly objected to closing the case. Attorney General Reno, a supporter of the recently renewed Ethics in Government Act, requested an independent counsel investigation.
Early on, he focused on Tyson Foods, the nation's largest poultry processor. This investigation led to a controversial expansion when Smaltz granted immunity to a former Tyson Foods corporate pilot named Joe Henrickson, who claimed to have ferried envelopes of cash from Tyson executives to then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. When these allegations became public, Tyson Foods denounced Smaltz's inquiry as a "witch hunt," and the White House formally admonished Smaltz for making public comments that seemed to stray beyond the Espy investigation.
Trial of Mike Espy
The trial of Mike Espy began in October 1998 and lasted about seven weeks. Smaltz's prosecutors presented what was described as a "kitchen-sink" indictment, eventually reduced to 30 counts for trial. The charges included accepting gifts like plane rides, sports tickets, luggage, and other favors from companies regulated by the USDA, and then attempting to conceal those gifts or lying about them to investigators.
By the close of the Office of Independent Counsel in late 1998, Smaltz reported that his work had yielded 14 indictments and "more than a dozen" convictions or guilty pleas. His office tallied roughly $11 million in fines, penalties, and forfeited assets, mostly from corporate defendants who admitted to giving improper gifts.
Later life
After concluding his work as Independent Counsel, Smaltz returned to private practice in California. In 2007, he and his wife, Lois Smaltz (a former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge), retired to Sequim, Washington.