Trump admin live updates: Trump, Schumer trade barbs over Senate nominations

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel confirmed Saturday that it has opened an investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith and whether he violated the Hatch Act through his criminal investigations into President Donald Trump.

The investigation follows a referral from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas earlier this week that asked the OSC to investigate Smith for his investigative and prosecutorial activities prior to the 2024 election which Cotton argued were intended to harm Trump's political prospects.

Both Smith and former Attorney General Merrick Garland repeatedly maintained prior to departing office that none of the actions taken in either the classified documents investigation or the probe of Trump's efforts to subvert his 2020 election loss were driven by politics.

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin

William Beach, the former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics who was nominated by President Donald Trump and led the agency during his first term, has condemned the firing of his successor, calling it "totally groundless" and warning that it "sets a dangerous precedent."

"The totally groundless firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer, my successor as Commissioner of Labor Statistics at BLS, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the statistical mission of the Bureau," he posted on X.

In a longer statement he co-signed, he called on Congress to investigate the matter and "strongly urged" that McEntarfer continue to serve, warning that her firing "undermines the credibility of federal economic statistics" that are "the gold standard globally."

"When leaders of other nations have politicized economic data, it has destroyed public trust in all official statistics and in government science," Beach wrote alongside colleagues from the "Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics" group.

-ABC News' Ben Siegel

Trump was asked about the $200 million ballroom construction for the White House and if any of the unnamed donors joining him in paying for the expansion represent donors from foreign countries.

"I never even thought of it. But it doesn't matter. I'm putting up my money," he responded.

Trump continued to sow doubt about jobs numbers making baseless claims that BLS has repeatedly put out numbers that were untrue.

The president said he did the right thing by firing commissioner Erika McEntarfer.

"We need people we can trust," he said.

Trump then said he had three people in mind for the job but when asked if he would put someone with labor statistics experience he responded, "I want to put someone who I can trust."