Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith offered to testify publicly, and now it makes sense why Republicans wanted him to testify behind closed doors. The Associated Press reports that Smith told lawmakers on Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Smith also told lawmakers that his team had gathered “powerful evidence” that Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents from his first term as president at his Mar-a-Lago resort, and by obstructing government efforts to recover the records, according to the outlet.
“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith said. “We took actions based on what the facts and the law required — the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor.”
Smith made it clear that if asked whether he would “prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat.”
Via the AP:
The private deposition before the House Judiciary Committee gives Smith his first chance to face questions, albeit behind closed doors, about a pair of investigations into Trump that resulted in since-abandoned criminal charges between the Republican president’s first and second terms in office. Smith was subpoenaed earlier this month to provide both testimony and documents as part of a Republican investigation into the Trump probes during the Biden administration.
The former special counsel cooperated with the congressional demand despite having volunteered more than a month earlier to answer questions publicly before the committee, an overture his lawyers say was rebuffed by Republicans.
“Testifying before this committee, Jack is showing tremendous courage in light of the remarkable and unprecedented retribution campaign against him by this administration and this White House,” one of Smith’s lawyers, Lanny Breuer, told reporters Wednesday. “Let’s be clear: Jack Smith is a career prosecutor, who conducted this investigation based on the facts and based on the law and nothing more.”
“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,” Smith said. “Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.”
🚨 Former Special Counsel Jack Smith, in a closed-door House Judiciary Committee hearing:
“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned… pic.twitter.com/Rqz4lZ5EE6
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) December 17, 2025
We know this is true, and that sitting members of Congress were in on it, too. We saw the attempted coup, and Trump begging Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes, because Raffensperger testified to that.
Trump’s second term is simply a tour of retribution against any public servants who tried to hold him accountable. We’ve seen his DOJ try this with James Comey, and Letitia James. And Trump won’t stop for a minute. Just this morning, he shared this post on Truth Social:
Now, let’s put Trump under oath.
