Among his more notable corruption cases was a conviction of Robert McDonnell, the Republican former governor of Virginia, that was later overturned by the Supreme Court, and a conviction of former Representative Rick Renzi, Republican of Arizona, whom Mr. Trump pardoned during his final hours as president.

Mr. Smith was about to prosecute the former president of Kosovo when Mr. Garland called.

Maybe he wanted to get Trump back for pardoning someone he convicted.

I don't know if this has any importance at all but found this on wiki on Rick Renzi -

In 1997 or 1998, Renzi began to take law courses at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. He finished his coursework in December 2001 and graduated with a J.D. in 2002. While he was studying law, he claimed he was an unpaid intern in Senator Jon Kyl's office for two months in 1999, and in 2001 he spent several months as an unpaid intern for Representative Jim Kolbe. Senator Kyl later questioned the accuracy of Renzi's description of his work in Kyl's office, saying he was never employed there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Renzi

Jon Kyl

A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, serving alongside John McCain during his first stint. Kyl was Senate Minority Whip from 2007 until 2013. He first joined the lobbying firm Covington & Burling after retiring in 2013, then rejoined in 2019.

In September 2018, Kyl was appointed by Governor Doug Ducey to serve in the Senate seat left vacant by the death of John McCain. At a press conference accepting the appointment, Kyl stated that he would not run for the remainder of the term following the 2020 special election.

Kyl resigned from the Senate effective December 31, 2018, and was succeeded by Martha McSally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kyl

Jim Kolbe

After leaving Congress, Kolbe served on the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations under Democratic president Barack Obama. Kolbe left the Republican Party and became an independent in 2018 after the election of Donald Trump. He endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kolbe