Former particular counsel Jack Smith didn’t invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during eight hours of testimony Wednesday behind closed doorways to the House Judiciary Committee, the panel’s chairman mentioned.
“He did not take the Fifth like some of his deputies did,” Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, mentioned on Fox News on Thursday.
Smith defended each of his investigations into then-former President Donald Trump, telling members that he charged Trump regardless of his political social gathering affiliation. Smith and his attorneys have beforehand mentioned that he needed the chance to right mischaracterizations about his investigations.
Previous interviewees have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights in opposition to self-incrimination, Jordan mentioned on Fox.
“You know we’ve deposed three of his deputies,” he mentioned. “We got more coming in, and one of them took the Fifth 70-some times. We’ve actually referred that individual because we think he was obstructing our investigation.”
Some of Smith’s deputies who labored on his investigations have appeared earlier than the committee already for closed door testimony. Two of his deputies, Jay Bratt and Thomas Windom, invoked their Fifth Amendment rights. The committee has already made a prison referral to the Justice Department for Windom for declining to reply some questions.
Jack Smith Testifies in closed-door listening to about Trump
Jack Smith Testifies in closed-door listening to about Trump
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It is unclear what the committee’s subsequent steps are for Smith, however Jordan mentioned the panel might maintain a public listening to. The former particular counsel beforehand requested to testify publicly, however Wednesday’s eight-hour look remained behind closed doorways.
Jordan was additionally briefly requested on Fox if the committee plans to take any authorized motion in opposition to Smith following his testimony.
“I don’t want to get into that, and I can’t get into the details of the conversation,” Jordan mentioned.
The panel this week additionally despatched requests for interviews for 4 extra of Smith’s deputies who labored on the investigations.
“We may look to have a public hearing where we bring Mr. Smith in in front of the committee, but we’re going to just keep moving through that,” Jordan mentioned.
Some Democratic members of the committee, together with rating member Rep. Jamie Raskin, got here and spoke to reporters midway by means of Smith’s testimony. Democrats have regularly mentioned that Smith must be allowed to testify publicly.
“Every other special counsel has been able to come here and testify,” Raskin mentioned. “Robert Mueller has been able to testify. Robert Hur has been able to testify. All the special counsels and independent counsels have come in.”
Raskin additionally mentioned hours into the testimony that Smith had answered “every single question to the satisfaction of any reasonable minded person in that room.”
Jordan subpoenaed Smith to testify privately at the start of the month, citing his “partisan and politically motivated prosecutions,” in opposition to Trump.
Smith led two federal investigations into Trump. One was relating to his alleged mishandling of categorized paperwork at his property in Mar-a-Lago, and the opposite on his alleged function in interfering with the 2020 presidential election.
Jordan additionally instructed Fox News this morning that his “overall belief” that Smith’s prosecutions had been politically motivated didn’t change after Smith’s testimony.
“Nothing yesterday changed my overall belief that this was driven by politics, the timing of things, certain motions, and different things that were made,” Jordan mentioned.
NCS has reached out to Smith’s lawyer for remark.
