Former United States Special Counsel Jack Smith is defended He sued President Donald Trump, rejecting Republican claims the case was politically motivated.
In testimony before lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, Smith said two federal cases, one over Trump’s handling of Classified Attempts to subvert documents and others 2020 electionIt was based on evidence, not politics.
Both cases were dropped after Trump’s re-election in November 2024, in keeping with a longstanding Justice Department policy barring the investigation or prosecution of a sitting president. Smith resigned before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
It was the first time the American public heard from Smith after his resignation. He told the panel that Trump’s Justice Department is expected to seek criminal charges against him.
These are the important solutions:
What details do we know about the cases?
Smith, a public corruption prosecutor, was appointed in November 2022 to oversee the Trump investigation.
Here are two cases they examined:
Classified documents
Smith investigated Trump’s mishandling of classified documents after he left office at the end of his first term.
Includes criminal prosecution 31 numbers Under the US Espionage Act, each could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for knowingly possessing national defense information. Trump has been charged separately with conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators.
Trump removed highly sensitive documents from the White House after leaving office in 2021 and then stored them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, prosecutors allege.
2020 Election Results
The second chapter focuses on Trump’s attempts to overturn it Results 2020 Presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Lawyers argued that Trump tried to block the legal transfer of power after the vote instead of accepting the results.
The charges followed an extensive investigation into the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy against voter rights.
Smith did not directly accuse Trump of inciting the Capitol riots. Instead, the case focused on Trump’s actions in the weeks between his election loss and the violence in Washington, investigating efforts to pressure officials, false claims of fraud and interference in the certification of election results.
What were the main takeaways from Thursday’s testimony?
‘No one should be above the law’
Smith said the investigation into Trump was driven by evidence and the law.
“We followed the facts and we followed the law. Where we were charged with an unprecedented criminal scheme to prevent a peaceful transfer of power,” Smith said.
“Our investigation developed evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked today whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat,” Smith said in his opening remarks.
“No one in this country should be above the law, and the law should hold him accountable. So that’s what I did,” Smith continued.
Still, the special counsel said he held off on filing treason charges against Trump. It was followed by House impeachment of Trump on January 6, though the Senate acquitted the president on a single count of inciting sedition.
Cassidy Hutchinson
Republicans have long focused on challenging the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, a key moment in the congressional investigation into the January 6 attacks.
Hutchinson told the committee that she was informed that Trump had attempted to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle as he demanded a ride to the US Capitol. Other witnesses later disputed that account.
During the hearing, the committee’s chairman, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, pressed Jack Smith on the matter. “Mr. Smith, is Cassidy Hutchinson a liar?” Jordan asked.
Smith said Hutchinson’s account was second-hand and investigators could not confirm it. He said a Secret Service agent in the vehicle at the time did not back up the claim.
Still pressed by Jordan on whether Smith would have brought Hutchinson forward to testify, Smith said he had made “no final decision.”
Jordan seized on that response, arguing that prosecutors are determined to go after Trump.
In fact, Smith said, one of the “central challenges” in the case is presenting it in brief, “because we have so many witnesses” — state officials, Trump campaign operatives and advisers — to testify.
“Some of the most powerful witnesses were witnesses who were actually fellow Republicans who voted for Donald Trump, who campaigned for him and who wanted him to win the election,” Smith added.
‘Threat to Democracy’
Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, a Democrat, asked how he would describe the consequences — for American democracy — of not holding Trump accountable for his alleged violations of the law and his oath of office.
“If we don’t hold the most powerful people in our society to the same standard of the rule of law, it could be catastrophic,” Smith said.
“Because if they don’t have to follow the law, it’s very easy to understand why people think they don’t have to follow the law.”
Smith added, “If we don’t hold people accountable when they commit crimes, it sends a message that those crimes are okay, that our society accepts that… it can jeopardize our election process, our election workers and ultimately our democracy.”
‘I don’t understand’
Smith strongly criticized Trump’s decision to issue a mass pardon for those convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned all those charged in the riots, including hundreds who were accused or convicted of assaulting police officers.
When asked about these moves, Smith said: “Those who attacked police officers and were convicted after trial, in my opinion and the judges who sentenced them to prison, are a danger to their communities. As you mentioned, some of these people have re-offended against their communities, and I think we all – if we’re reasonable – know that these people will commit crimes in the future.
“I don’t understand why you would condone people attacking police officers,” Smith said Thursday. “I don’t get it. I never will.”
According to reports, at least 140 police officers were injured in the capital attack.
Smith defends his work
Republican lawmakers sought to portray Smith as an overly aggressive prosecutor who needed to be restrained by senior Justice Department officials as he pursued cases against Trump before the former president’s potential return to office.
He specifically focused on Smith’s decision to obtain phone records for members of Congress, including then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as overreaching.
In a heated exchange, Texas Republican Representative Brandon Gill accused Smith of using the nondisclosure order to “hide” the subpoena from his targets and the public.
Smith denied the claims, saying the collection of phone records was a routine investigative step aimed at understanding the “extent of the conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election.
“My office has not spied on anybody,” Smith said.
He added that the nondisclosure order was sought because of concerns about witness intimidation, pointing to Trump’s public warnings that he was “coming after” people who crossed him.
“I have serious concerns about obstruction of justice in this investigation, particularly with respect to Donald Trump,” Smith said.
Smith said prosecutors don’t have to “wait until someone is killed before getting an order to protect the proceedings.”
Trump answers
Trump appeared to follow Smith’s testimony directly, posting on Truth Social that the hearings were open and praising the Republican for his attack on the former special counsel.
“Disappointing Jack Smith is being destroyed in front of Congress. It ended when they discussed his past failures and improper prosecutions,” Trump wrote. “He destroyed many lives in the name of legalism. Jack Smith is a pervert who should not be allowed to obey the law.”
Trump framed the investigation as a “Democrat scandal” and said those involved would “pay a big price”.
Trump has used similar tactics in the past, using his social media accounts in September to direct the Justice Department to indict. Other critics of his actionsNew York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.