Special counsel Jack Smith and his team at the Justice Department who investigated and charged Donald Trump will step down before the president-elect takes office and potentially makes good on a promise to fire him, The New York Times and NBC News reported Wednesday.

Republican lawmakers have already indicated that Smith may be a target of the president-elect’s plans for retribution against his perceived enemies.

Jack Smith, the special counsel who led two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, is expected to leave the Justice Department before the president-elect takes office, CBS News, the BBC's US media partner, reports.