Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has characterized former President Donald Trump as “the most culpable and most responsible person” in the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a newly released transcript of Smith’s closed-door congressional testimony.

“The attack that happened at the Capitol does not happen without him,” Smith told lawmakers during a daylong deposition on December 17. The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee released the transcript and video of the interview on Wednesday, providing new insights into the criminal investigations that resulted in unprecedented federal indictments against a former president.

Throughout the testimony, Smith vigorously defended his team’s investigations and rejected Republican suggestions that the probes were politically motivated to prevent Trump from reclaiming the presidency in 2024. “I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the presidential election,” Smith stated.

The deposition marks Smith’s only appearance before Congress since leaving his special counsel position in January. Though Smith had requested to testify publicly, the interview was conducted behind closed doors.

Smith oversaw two major investigations that led to indictments against Trump: one for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results and another for willfully retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both cases were abandoned after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, with Smith citing Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president.

During his testimony, Smith expressed confidence that the evidence against Trump would have supported a conviction, particularly in the January 6 case. He emphasized that much of the case relied on testimony from Trump’s own allies and supporters who cooperated with investigators.

“We had an elector in Pennsylvania who is a former congressman, who was going to be an elector for President Trump, who said that what they were trying to do was an attempt to overthrow the government and illegal,” Smith testified. “Our case was built on, frankly, Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before the party.”

Smith described such testimony as the “most powerful” evidence against Trump, noting that these witnesses came forward “even though it could mean trouble for them.”

Regarding the Capitol riot itself, Smith said the evidence showed that Trump “caused it and that he exploited it and that it was foreseeable to him.” While acknowledging there was no direct evidence that Trump instructed supporters to riot, Smith said the former president “got people to believe fraud claims that weren’t true” and “made false statements to state legislatures, to his supporters in all sorts of contexts.”

Smith added that once the attack began, “he refused to stop it. He instead issued a tweet that without question in my mind endangered the life of his own vice president. And when the violence was going on, he had to be pushed repeatedly by his staff members to do anything to quell it.”

The testimony also addressed controversy over Smith’s team obtaining phone records of Republican lawmakers who were in contact with Trump on January 6. Smith defended this as lawful and standard procedure, arguing that “who should be accountable for this is Donald Trump” because “he directed his co-conspirators to call these people to further delay the proceedings.”

Smith referenced an interview with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who reportedly mentioned that Rep. Jim Jordan, now chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had been in touch with the White House during the riot. According to Smith, Meadows remarked that “I’ve never seen Jim Jordan scared of anything,” illustrating the severity of the situation.

When questioned about former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s claim that Trump lunged for the steering wheel of his presidential SUV when Secret Service refused to take him to the Capitol, Smith noted that investigators interviewed the officer in the vehicle. While the officer confirmed Trump was “very angry and wanted to go to the Capitol,” his account “was not the same as what Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from somebody secondhand.”