WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled for a closed-door interview with House Republicans on Wednesday after lawmakers rejected his offer to testify publicly about his investigations of President Donald Trump.
The private testimony is part of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee's ongoing investigation into Justice Department criminal investigations into Trump during the Biden administration. Smith was subpoenaed earlier this month to provide testimony and documents, and his lawyers have said he will cooperate with Congress' request, even though he volunteered to answer questions publicly from the committee more than a month ago.
“We are disappointed that the proposal was rejected and that the American people will be deprived of the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics,” Peter Koski, one of his lawyers, said this month. “Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clear up various misconceptions about his investigation.”
Trump told reporters at the White House that he supported the idea of open hearings, saying: “I would prefer that he testify publicly. He won't be able to answer questions.”
Smith is expected to discuss both of his investigations into Trump but will not answer questions that require the use of grand jury materials, the use of which is restricted by law, said a person familiar with the investigation who insisted on anonymity to discuss the interviews. He is also expected to correct what he sees as mischaracterizations of his work by Republicans, including his team's use of cellphone records belonging to some GOP lawmakers, the person said.
Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee the Justice Department's investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and his accumulation of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Smith's team brought charges in both investigations.
Smith withdrew from pursuing those cases after Trump was re-elected to the White House last year, citing Justice Department legal opinions that said a sitting president cannot be indicted.
Republicans who control Congress have sought interviews with at least some individual members of Smith's team.
In recent weeks, they have seized on revelations that the team, as part of its investigation, analyzed phone records of elected GOP lawmakers from around Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the certification of Trump's election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The phone records reviewed by prosecutors contained information only about incoming and outgoing phone numbers and the length of the call, but not the content of the conversation.
