A quick rundown on the newly appointed special counsel Jack Smith, with whom I wasn’t familiar prior to today’s announcement:

Update: Merrick Garland named Jack Smith, pictured above, as special counsel. More soon.

Original post:

The big news of the day: We could get an announcement as early as this afternoon from Attorney General Merrick Garland that he is naming a special counsel to handle the various federal investigations of former President Trump.

The Wall Street Journal was the first I saw to report the news, but other Main Justice beat reporters have the same info.

You knew the Jan. 6 committee had to have another card up its sleeve for its last hearing before the midterm elections (and perhaps its last one ever). The previews the committee provided of what the hearing would focus on were generally underwhelming. But we got a hint at the top of the hearing from chair Bernie Thompson: This is not technically a hearing but a business meeting of the committee, meaning the committee can conduct votes, Thompson said. Now NBC is reporting the committee plans to vote to subpoena former President Trump himself.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson brings a devastating “originalist” reading to the Civil War-era constitutional amendments during the ongoing oral arguments over Alabama’s redistricting plan. Our live coverage here.

Adam Serwer: “I mean she is correct as a matter of fact and history it’s just not something you hear a justice say.”

Legal affairs reporter Chris Geidner, on KBJ this morning: “She’s really incredible, right from the start of her time here. Unlike any new justice that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”