All the while, Smith told the committee his investigations were nonpartisan \u2014 and that there were, indeed, grounds to bring two federal indictments against Trump during the period between his two terms in office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made my decisions without regard to President Trump\u2019s political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 election,\u201d Smith told the congressional panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law \u2014 the very laws he took an oath to uphold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Formerly a war-crimes prosecutor at an international tribunal in The Hague, Smith was selected to serve as special counsel in 2022, under former Democratic President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n
Special counsels are tapped to operate independently, without the usual day-to-day oversight from politically appointed Justice Department leadership.<\/p>\n
But Smith\u2019s mandate was particularly sensitive. He was charged with investigating Trump, Biden\u2019s 2020 election rival whom the Democrat would face again in the 2024 race.<\/p>\n
![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-01-22T153241Z_1248616273_RC2F6JAGFYXC_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-SMITH-1769098155.jpg\")
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith raises his hand to be sworn in on January 22 [Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters]Inside the investigations<\/p>\n
The 2020 election was a central part of Smith\u2019s investigation. So were Trump\u2019s actions on January 6, 2021, when thousands of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in an apparent attempt to disrupt the certification of the election results.<\/p>\n
Smith ultimately determined that Trump had intentionally attempted to subvert the vote. In August 2023, a grand jury indicted Trump on four charges: conspiracy to defraud the country, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against the free exercise of rights under the US Constitution.<\/p>\n
A separate grand jury, this time in the state of Florida, issued a second federal indictment in June 2023, related to another probe Smith led.<\/p>\n
That investigation focused on Trump\u2019s decision to withhold classified documents after leaving office and defy a subpoena for their return. Trump was ultimately charged with 40 counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and failing to adhere to standards concerning sensitive documents under the Espionage Act.<\/p>\n
Both federal cases were dropped after Trump was re-elected in 2024. It is Justice Department policy not to investigate or prosecute sitting presidents. Smith himself resigned shortly before Trump\u2019s inauguration in January 2025.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, at Thursday\u2019s hearing, Smith defended the indictments and suggested his cases would have been successful had the circumstances been different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be clear: I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump,\u201d Smith told the committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the evidence compelled him to move forward with the indictments, regardless of the high-profile defendant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law required that he be held to account,\u201d Smith said. \u201cSo that is what I did. To have done otherwise on the facts of these cases would\u2019ve been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later on in his testimony, he emphasised his stance: \u201c\u200aWe were ready, willing and able to go to trial in the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jim](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26022580949846-1769102231.jpg\")
Representative Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and ranking member Representative Jamie Raskin speak to Jack Smith on January 22 [Jacquelyn Martin\/AP Photo]Republican criticisms<\/p>\n
But Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sought to portray Smith as a partisan shill whose mission was to take down Biden\u2019s political rival.<\/p>\n
Some of the most aggressive questioning came from Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California, who cast doubt on Smith\u2019s independence as special prosecutor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou, like the president\u2019s men for Richard Nixon, went after your political enemies. Maybe they\u2019re not your political enemies, but they sure as hell were Joe Biden\u2019s political enemies, weren\u2019t they?\u201d Issa asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were the enemies of the president. And you were their arm, weren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith replied to the accusation with a single word: \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Issa went on to assert that, in spreading false statements denying his 2020 election defeat, Trump was simply expressing his First Amendment right to free speech.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aYou understand the Constitution? Do you understand the Bill of Rights that someone has the absolute right to believe something, whether it\u2019s true or not, and to advocate for something whether it\u2019s true or not?\u201d Issa said at one point.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you know that people have a right to opine, lobby for, assert [and] do everything they can legally to ask for people to make different decisions, then why is it you saw criminal conduct on behalf of a president who believed he didn\u2019t win?\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith was not able to respond to that question, but his indictment asserts that Trump went beyond simply voicing his disagreement with the results.<\/p>\n
Rather, it argues that Trump and his allies attempted to recruit \u201cfalse electors\u201d to submit fraudulent Electoral College votes for certification, and it highlights evidence that Trump pressured elected officials to reject unfavourable vote outcomes.<\/p>\n
Another key point of criticism among Republicans was Smith\u2019s decision to seek \u201climited toll records\u201d from the telephones of nine lawmakers who communicated with Trump during his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.<\/p>\n
Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, was among the Congress members targeted.<\/p>\n
Such toll records do not include the content of the calls in question. Rather, they identify where the call originated from, who it was received by, and how long the connection lasted.<\/p>\n
Republicans argued that subpoenaing the telephone records amounted not only to a violation of privacy but also to an infringement of the Constitution\u2019s Speech and Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers from legal action stemming from their legislative duties.<\/p>\n
Conservative members of the committee also questioned the secrecy of the subpoenas, something Smith argued was necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe subpoenas that we secured, we secured with non-disclosure orders from a judge because I had grave concerns about obstruction of justice in this investigation,\u201d Smith responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecifically with regards to Donald Trump, not only did we have the obstruction of justice that we were investigating in the classified documents case, but I was aware during the course of our investigation of the targeting of witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26022607184489-1769103274.jpg\")
Former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith takes his seat as he prepares to testify [Jacquelyn Martin\/AP Photo]Smith defends team\u2019s work<\/p>\n
While Republicans blasted Smith for what they perceived to be prosecutorial missteps, Democrats praised him as a paragon of integrity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to lean in today. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You did everything right, sir,\u201d Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell told Smith.<\/p>\n
He then proceeded to accuse his Republican colleagues of hypocrisy, particularly after the 2021 attack on the Capitol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese guys are so lucky they\u2019re not under oath because they would have to tell you what they really think of Trump,\u201d Swalwell said, gesturing to the Republicans on the panel. \u201c\u200aThey call him crooked. They call him cruel. They call him a scumbag. I\u2019ve heard you all say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swalwell invited Smith to reflect on the Capitol attack and how he felt watching Trump supporters break into the legislature while lawmakers fled. At the time, Smith was in Europe on behalf of the State Department, working on the war-crimes tribunal.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI was shocked by it. Being in Europe and not following things as closely, I was not frankly up to speed on the events leading up to it,\u201d Smith replied. \u201c\u200aI just had never seen anything like that happen in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith also denied that he faced any pressure from the Biden administration to come to any foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI was given the independence to conduct my investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Since being named special prosecutor, Smith has become a frequent target for criticism on the political right. Just this week, Trump himself called Smith a \u201csick son of a b****\u201d who led a group of \u201c\u200ahandpicked radical-left Marxist prosecutors\u201d.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, the Trump administration has largely removed the nonpartisan federal employees who were involved in the two federal investigations Smith led.<\/p>\n
Smith used Thursday\u2019s committee hearing to lash out at those employment decisions, accusing Trump of seeking retribution against government workers who served presidents of both parties.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI\u2019m proud of the work my team did, and I appreciate the opportunity to appear here today to correct false and misleading narratives about our work,\u201d Smith told the panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump has sought to seek revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents and support staff simply for having worked on these cases,\u201d he added. \u201cTo vilify and seek retribution against these people is wrong. Those dedicated public servants are the best of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP26022583919808-1769107061.jpg\")
The House Judiciary Committee hears Jack Smith\u2019s testimony [Jacquelyn Martin\/AP Photo]President responds to Smith\u2019s testimony<\/p>\n
Trump, meanwhile, appeared to be watching Smith\u2019s testimony live. In the midst of the committee\u2019s back-and-forth dialogue, the president posted on Truth Social a message applauding Republicans for their takedowns of Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeranged Jack Smith is being DECIMATED before Congress. It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions,\u201d Trump wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy. Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn\u2019t be allowed to practice Law.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also suggested Smith should face professional penalties or even prosecution, in a message seemingly directed at the Justice Department.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he were a Republican, his license would be taken away from him, and far worse! Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he\u2019s done,\u201d Trump continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole thing was a Democrat SCAM \u2014 A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has deployed a similar tactic in the past, using his social media account in September<\/a> to direct the Justice Department to indict other critics of his actions<\/a>, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey.<\/p>\n Smith was subpoenaed<\/a> by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee in early December and testified<\/a> later that month in a closed-door hearing, despite his protestations that the proceedings should be public.<\/p>\n He is currently under a gag order barring him from divulging evidence about the classified documents case, though US District Judge Aileen Cannon indicated she would allow his report to be released on February 24. The Trump administration has appealed that decision.<\/p>\n As part of his prepared remarks, Smith implored his audience to defend the rule of law, regardless of which party might seek to undermine it.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter nearly 30 years of public service, including in international settings, I have seen how the rule of law can erode,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has offered public testimony for the first time as he returned to Congress…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2490,3786,43,44,84,41,39,42,40,1055,6075],"class_list":["post-431256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-government","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}