Jack Smith to testify publicly before House Judiciary Committee as soon as this month

Washington — Former special counsel Jack Smith is expected to testify publicly in front of the House Judiciary Committee as soon as this month.GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, the committee’s chairman, told Politico on Friday that he would invite Smith to testify in the coming weeks. A source familiar with the planning confirmed that timeline to CBS News.Last month, Smith testified in a closed-door deposition for roughly nine hours on Capitol Hill before the committee, which is probing Smith’s actions during his time as special counsel in the Biden administration.The committee is investigating what it claims were the “politically motivated” prosecutions of President Trump that Smith oversaw. Republicans on the committee have ramped up their criticism of investigative steps Smith and his office took, including their move to obtain phone records of sitting Republican lawmakers.Smith’s two investigations into Mr. Trump resulted in more than 40 federal charges. The first alleged he unlawfully held onto government documents marked classified after leaving the White House in 2021, and the second stemmed from his alleged efforts to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election. Both cases were brought to an end after Mr. Trump won a second term in November 2024.The committee released a transcript and video of Smith’s closed-door testimony last month. The former special counsel defended his prosecutions of Mr. Trump and said he was confident that he had enough evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Smith also rejected suggestions that he brought the cases against Mr. Trump to harm his 2024 presidential campaign, and said the Biden White House was not involved in his investigations.”The evidence here made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy,” he said, referring to the 2020 election case. “These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit.”Smith also revealed that his team determined they had evidence to charge some of Mr. Trump’s co-conspirators in the election interference case, but said he had not yet made a final decision to do so.Lanny Breuer, one of Smith’s attorneys, said in a statement that his client “has been clear for months he is ready and willing to answer questions in a public hearing about his investigations into President Trump’s alleged unlawful efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents.” Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, welcomed news of Smith’s public testimony.”After Republicans forced Jack Smith into a backroom interrogation and rejected our calls for an open public hearing, now they decide they want a public hearing with Jack Smith after all,” Raskin said in a statement. “Their backroom strategy backfired in historic fashion.” He added: “This upcoming hearing is a win for truth-seeking Americans and yet another looming humiliation for Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans, who depend on a daily diet of lies to keep their Administration afloat.”Smith had offered to testify publicly before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, as prior special counsels have done, but Jordan, the House panel’s chairman, issued a subpoena for Smith’s initial testimony to be private.Lawyers for the former special counsel reiterated their request for Smith to answer questions from lawmakers in a public forum following his deposition.

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