Former Special Counsel Defends Trump Investigations in Contentious House Testimony

Former special counsel Jack Smith forcefully defended his investigations into Donald Trump during a closed-door deposition with House Republicans last month, rejecting accusations of political motivation and insisting his team had gathered substantial evidence to support the indictments against the former president.

“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election,” Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee during the December 17 interview, his first congressional appearance since leaving his role as special counsel earlier in 2024.

The eight-hour testimony, detailed in a 255-page transcript released by Republicans on New Year’s Eve, revealed sharp exchanges between Smith and Republican lawmakers about the investigations into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Smith emphatically rejected the notion that Trump’s statements about the 2020 election would be protected by the First Amendment. When a Republican lawyer cited historical disputes over past elections, Smith responded: “There is no historical analog for what President Trump did in this case.”

The former special counsel maintained that his team had developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump “engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.” He also cited “powerful evidence” that Trump willfully retained highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and obstructed government efforts to recover them.

According to Smith, Trump’s actions surrounding January 6 were particularly troubling. “He made false statements to state legislatures, to his supporters in all sorts of contexts and was aware in the days leading up to Jan. 6th that his supporters were angry when he invited them, and then he directed them to the Capitol,” Smith testified.

“Once they were at the Capitol and once the attack on the Capitol happened, he refused to stop it. He instead issued a tweet that, without question in my mind, endangered the life of his own vice president,” he added, noting that Trump had to be “pushed repeatedly by his staff members to do anything to quell” the violence.

The testimony underscored the dramatic shift in political dynamics following Trump’s 2024 election victory. In keeping with longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, the charges against Trump were dropped after his election, and Smith subsequently resigned.

Since returning to office, Trump has taken steps against those involved in the investigations, including revoking security clearances for employees of a Washington, D.C. law firm representing Smith and removing FBI agents connected to the January 6 investigation.

Smith used his opening remarks to express concern about these actions. “I am both saddened and angered that President Trump has sought revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents, and support staff simply for doing their jobs and for having worked on those cases,” he said.

When questioned about potential co-conspirators in the election case, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and John Eastman, Smith acknowledged that his team had not made “final determinations” before the investigation was wound down following Trump’s reelection. He maintained that Trump was “the most culpable” and “most responsible” person for the alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election results.

Smith also faced intense questioning about his team’s controversial subpoenas for phone records belonging to members of Congress. He defended the subpoenas as consistent with Justice Department policy at the time, noting they had been approved by the Public Integrity Section. Smith acknowledged that when seeking gag orders from the D.C. federal court to block lawmakers from learning about the subpoenas for at least a year, his team did not specifically identify that the targets were members of Congress.

“I don’t think we identified that, because I don’t think that was Department policy at the time,” Smith said.

When pressed about who should be held accountable for what some lawmakers viewed as a constitutional violation, Smith placed the blame on Trump. “These records are people, in the case of the Senators, Donald Trump directed his co-conspirators to call these people to further delay the proceedings,” Smith testified. “Responsibility for why these records, why we collected them… lies with Donald Trump.”