Jack Smith Defends Trump Investigations Before Senate Committee

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers that he stands behind the two federal cases he brought against President Donald Trump and that his investigations were conducted without regard to Trump's political affiliation, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer reported for The Associated Press (AP).

One of the moments of former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that made news came when GOP Senator Eric Schmitt confused the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes in an attempt to prove a perjury allegation against the Smith. [Photo: Senator Eric Schmitt Facebook]

Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he would not be silenced by what he described as continued threats of prosecution from the Trump administration.

In prepared remarks, he said his investigation had developed what prosecutors considered proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump had engaged in criminal conduct.

Smith also said he would make the same prosecutorial decision regardless of whether the president were a Republican or a Democrat.

Smith was appointed special counsel in 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his handling of classified documents.

His office subsequently brought federal indictments against Trump in both matters.

Republican senators have challenged Smith's investigative methods, particularly subpoenas seeking phone records involving Republican members of Congress who had contact with Trump during the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith has defended those subpoenas, saying they were necessary to determine the scope of contacts surrounding the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has characterized the committee's investigation as an examination of what he called Smith's "weaponized conduct."

Smith and his supporters have rejected allegations that his investigations were politically motivated.

The hearing therefore featured competing claims about the conduct and motivations of the former special counsel and his prosecutors.