Former special counsel Jack Smith, who introduced two now-defunct felony instances in opposition to President Donald Turmp, defended the integrity of his investigation throughout a combative hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Making his first public look earlier than lawmakers, Smith pushed back in opposition to Trump’s claims that he was a crooked prosecutor throughout a hearing that devolved right into a partisan Rorschach check about Trump’s actions after dropping the 2020 election.
“I am not a politician, and I have no partisan loyalties,” Smith advised the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday. “My career has been dedicated to serving our country by upholding the rule of law…I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump.”
While Smith was testifying, Trump referred to as him a “deranged animal” in a social media put up, and also said he hopes Attorney General Pam Bondi “is looking at” supposed misconduct by Smith as a result of “a big price should be paid.”
From 2022 to 2025, Smith led the special counsel’s workplace on the Justice Department that investigated Trump’s makes an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, and his potential mishandling of categorised authorities paperwork.
He finally filed federal expenses in opposition to Trump in each investigations. But Smith withdrew each instances after Trump’s 2024 election victory, citing longstanding Justice Department guidelines in opposition to prosecuting a sitting president.
Here are takeaways on Smith’s main hearing on Thursday.
Republicans painted Smith as an overzealous prosecutor who trampled on constitutional protections to “get” Trump forward of the 2024 election.
“We should never forget what they did to the guy that we the people elected president twice,” Rep. Jim Jordan, the highest Republican on the panel, mentioned, reciting an inventory of grievances courting again to the Trump-Russia probe after the 2016 election, the Trump-Ukraine impeachment in 2019, and extra.
GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley identified that some of Smith’s moves had been reversed by federal judges — and he requested the previous special counsel if he made any errors.
When Smith mentioned his solely remorse was not doing extra to defend the integrity of his group, Kiley quipped, “No mistakes! There’s that integrity!”
And Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, advised the previous prosecutor, “The crap you were shoveling did not pass the smell test with the American people.”
But Rep. Jamie Raskin, the highest Democrat on the panel, hailed Smith as a hero who performed a essential function in protecting US democracy at nice private price.
“Donald Trump says you’re a criminal and you belong in prison,” Raskin mentioned throughout his opening assertion. “Not because you did anything wrong — but because you did everything right. You pursued the facts, you followed the law.”
And later, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell advised Smith, “You, unlike many here, are a man of honor.”
From the beginning, Republicans grilled Smith over his resolution to subpoena telephone information for a number of GOP lawmakers, who’ve mentioned for months that this was “political weaponization” that violated their constitutional protections.
The phone metadata, generally known as “toll records,” should not wiretaps and don’t reveal the content material of calls. They comprise numbers for incoming and outgoing calls, the time of the calls, and the period of the calls, amongst different issues.
“They got my phone records for two-and-a-half years,” Jordan mentioned. “Even the Democrats said this was wrong. But, of course, we shouldn’t be surprised.”
Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who mentioned his information had been focused, raised his voice whereas questioning Smith, chiding him for “your abuse of power.”
But the previous special counsel pushed back. He mentioned he wanted these telephone logs as a result of there was proof that Trump tried to achieve these lawmakers whereas trying to delay the election certification on January 6.
“The conspiracy that we were investigating, it was relevant to get toll records to understand the scope of that conspiracy, who they were seeking to coerce, who they were seeking to influence, who was seeking to help them,” he mentioned.
Later, Smith bluntly summed up his view: “My office didn’t spy on anyone.”
Smith warned of doubtless “catastrophic” threats to democracy when requested concerning the failure to carry Trump accountable for making an attempt to overturn an election.
“If we do not hold the most powerful people in our society to the same standards of the rule of law, then it can be catastrophic,” Smith mentioned. “Because if they don’t have to follow the law, it’s very easy to understand why people would think they don’t have to follow the law as well.”
Smith continued, “it sends a message that those crimes are okay, that our society accepts that… it can endanger our election process, it can endanger election workers, and ultimately our democracy.”
Earlier, Smith mentioned he was “shocked” on January 6 when he noticed the Capitol riot, as a result of “I just never seen anything like that happen in our country.”
He additionally strongly criticized Trump’s blanket pardons for lots of of violent Capitol rioters, which Trump granted on his first day in workplace final 12 months.
“I do not understand why you would mass-pardon people who assaulted police officers,” Smith. “I don’t get it. I never will.”
Unsurprisingly, Smith maintained self-discipline and caught to the script.
His solutions all through the day largely mirrored what he advised lawmakers throughout his non-public deposition final month. Sometimes it was practically verbatim.
That’s not solely due to limits imposed by a choose for what he may say concerning the categorised paperwork case, but in addition as a result of that’s his model as a prosecutor. He hewed intently to the conclusions put ahead in his blockbuster final report.
Smith didn’t get chummy with Democrats who heaped reward on him. And he sat quietly when insulted by Republicans, like California Rep. Darrell Issa, who mentioned on the finish of his questioning, “I yield back, in disgust of this witness.”
There was additionally predictable congressional bickering: Democrats complained about Smith getting reduce off halfway via some solutions, and Republicans sniped about their liberal colleagues speaking past their allotted time.
“Mr. Smith, this is theater,” Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado mentioned.
Four former cops who defended the Capitol on January 6 had been within the room to look at the hearing. They are Aquilino Gonell, Harry Dunn, Daniel Hodges and Michael Fanone, who’re all now Trump critics.
Many of the Democrats name-dropped these officers and honored their service. One Republican, Nehls, addressed them instantly and mentioned US Capitol Police management — not Trump — had been at fault for the violence that day.
“F—k yourself,” Fanone shouted from his seat within the viewers, hardly disguising his feedback with a cough.
Outside of the hearing room, a NCS reporter spotted Stewart Rhodes, the previous chief of the right-wing militia group generally known as the Oath Keepers. His presence on the Hill was made potential by Trump, who freed him from jail final 12 months amid his 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy on January 6.
The choose in Rhodes’ case previously said he should get court docket approval earlier than ever returning to the Capitol. There’s no indication on the public docket that this occurred.
NCS has reached out to Rhodes’ attorneys looking for remark.
NCS’s Holmes Lybrand, Tierney Sneed, Devan Cole and Casey Gannon contributed to this report.