House Republicans Demand Investigation Into Former Special Counsel Jack Smith
In a dramatic turn of events, the House Republicans have called on the Justice Department to initiate a criminal probe into former special counsel Jack Smith. The Republicans allege that Smith provided false testimony last year regarding his efforts to obtain phone records of lawmakers.
Jim Jordan, the House Judiciary Chairman and a Republican representative from Ohio, sent a letter to the DOJ on Wednesday night. He argued that Smith “seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements” during his testimony under oath last December.
The move to refer Smith for criminal investigation is part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress, aiming to target those who previously investigated former President Trump. The Justice Department has already taken steps to pursue legal action against former FBI Director Jim Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Smith has been a frequent subject of criticism by Trump on social media platforms. Reacting to the news of the referral, Trump posted, “Justice at last???” on Truth Social early Thursday morning.
As a former head of the Justice Department’s public integrity unit, Smith led two criminal investigations against Trump. These investigations involved grand jury indictments for alleged interference in the 2020 election and failure to surrender classified documents from Mar-a-Lago. However, both cases were dropped before trial after Trump returned to the presidency in 2024.
In response to the allegations, Smith’s legal team addressed a letter to both Jordan and the DOJ, maintaining that he had given “truthful, responsive answers” during his congressional testimony last year. Lawyers Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote, “This referral reflects a chilling eagerness to weaponize the justice system by attacking a career, nonpartisan public servant who faithfully and fearlessly performed his duties by following the facts and the law.”
Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, the leading Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, expressed skepticism about the referral’s validity. He stated that the charges against Smith would be “laughed out of court” if presented to a federal judge. Raskin added, “This referral deliberately distorts and misstates the facts, including what questions the Republicans actually asked at Mr. Smith’s interview. Jack Smith could not have lied because Republican Members never even asked the question their theory is based on.”
The contentious testimony centers on subpoenas issued by Smith’s prosecution team for phone records of lawmakers who had communications with top White House officials and allies approximately six years ago. Smith also acquired text messages from the National Archives, which contained exchanges between White House aides and legislators. According to Smith’s attorneys, Republicans never directly questioned him about these matters, yet now they seek to penalize him for not “proactively disclosing that.”
This article was originally written by www.npr.org
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