Special prosecutor Jack Smith, seen here in August 2023, defended his work to House members on Wednesday.
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Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations of President Trump, telling congressional lawmakers Wednesday that he made prosecution decisions without regard to Trump's “political connections, activities, beliefs, or candidacy for the 2024 presidential election,” according to parts of his opening statement obtained by NPR.
Testifying behind closed doors, Smith also told the House Judiciary Committee that his team had developed “evidence beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump participated in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Investigators also had “substantial evidence” that Trump intentionally kept secret documents and tried to obstruct justice to hide his possession of them.
“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for these charges lies entirely with President Trump and his actions,” Smith told lawmakers.
Smith appeared in person before the Republican-led committee in response to a subpoena after the panel rejected his offer to testify publicly about its investigations.
Those investigations led to two criminal charges against Trump: one for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election and another for allegedly obstructing justice and mishandling classified documents.
After Trump won the 2024 election, the Justice Department dropped its election case and dropped its appeal of a federal judge's dismissal of the classified documents charge.
Trump and his allies, including GOP lawmakers on the commission, have long accused Smith of investigating Trump for political reasons, an allegation Smith denies.
He also stood by his decision to continue the investigation.
“If I were asked today whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat,” he said.
In addition to portions of his opening statement obtained by NPR, Smith is expected to use his testimony to try to correct what he considers a mischaracterization of his work, according to a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to discuss private testimony. This includes the special counsel's obtaining of telephone records of some Republican members of Congress.
Even though his speech will take place behind closed doors, Smith will still be limited in what he can say. For example, he will not be able to answer questions related to grand jury materials, which are still classified.
