Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Defends Trump Prosecutions Before Senate Judiciary Committee

Former special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the federal cases he brought against Donald Trump involving efforts to overturn the 2020 election and classified documents. Both cases were dismissed after Trump won the 2024 election, and neither went to trial. Republicans, led by Chairman Chuck Grassley, accuse Smith of abusing his authority and politically targeting Republicans, including through the collection of lawmakers’ phone records, and are pressing him to answer for his conduct. Smith has rejected claims that politics influenced his investigations and is expected to defend his charging decisions, saying he would have brought charges based on the evidence regardless of a president’s party. The hearing comes amid Republican calls for Smith’s prosecution and Justice Department scrutiny of his work.
In prepared remarks, Smith said, “I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from the president or others.”
Rep. Jim Jordan referred Smith to the Justice Department in July over allegations that he misled Congress about investigators’ collection of lawmakers’ text messages; the department, led by Attorney General Todd Blanche, had not provided a status update, according to the article.
The Justice Department was also pursuing law-enforcement officials involved in Smith’s election-interference and classified-documents investigations, NBC News reported.
Smith has said he believed a jury would have convicted Trump in the election-interference case; he described the claim that political actors influenced or directed his decisions as “laughable.”
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