Jack Smith to Tell Senators He Won't Be Silenced by Prosecution Threats

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, where he plans to say he will not be intimidated by threats of prosecution from the Trump administration and that he believes the rule of law faces an unprecedented challenge.

According to prepared remarks, Smith will defend the two federal indictments he brought against President Donald Trump, stating that his decisions were made without regard to Trump's political affiliation, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election. He will say his investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump engaged in criminal conduct, and that he would pursue the same charges today regardless of the president's party.

Smith is also expected to face fresh questioning from Republican senators about his team's access to the phone records of GOP lawmakers during the investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. Smith has previously defended the subpoenas for toll records — data showing the date, length, and time of calls but not their content — as a common investigative practice needed to understand the scope of the conspiracy between Trump and his Republican allies.

The disclosure that Smith's team secretly obtained those records has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans, who call it evidence of overreach by the Biden Justice Department. In July, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referred Smith to the Justice Department for potential prosecution, alleging he lied during earlier testimony about the collection of records. Smith's attorneys have disputed that characterization, calling his answers unimpeachably truthful.

Smith will tell the panel he stands by his prior testimony and will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution from the president or others. The hearing comes as Smith remains a target of retribution, with the administration having moved to revoke security clearances for his legal team and the Office of Special Counsel opening an investigation into him.

Smith was appointed in 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the investigations into Trump's election reversal efforts and his retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Both probes yielded felony indictments, but Smith dropped the cases after Trump won back the White House in 2024, citing longstanding Justice Department opinions that sitting presidents cannot be federally indicted.