Donald C. Smaltz (born 1936/1937)[1] is an American lawyer who was appointed as Independent Counsel to investigate charges that United States Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy had received improper gifts from companies with business before his department.
[4][5] Smaltz served as a trial attorney for the Army's Judge Advocate General Corps.
He then spent several years as Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where he specialized in white-collar crime.
Smaltz's investigation of Espy resulted in 14 indictments, including two convictions, three guilty pleas, four acquittals, and fines for three companies.
The Espy case lasted four years,[citation needed] most of which Smaltz spent away from his family, who remained in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.