Jack Smith, Defending Trump Cases in Congress, Predicts Federal Prosecutors Will Do ‘Everything in Their Power’ To Indict Him

Former special counsel Jack Smith, who appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday to defend his criminal cases against President Trump, predicts that the Justice Department is actively working to indict him. Mr. Smith asked to testify publicly before the committee in order to discuss his two prosecutions of the then-former president. Over the course of more than five hours on Thursday, Mr. Smith testified before the Judiciary Committee about his appointment, the investigations, prosecutorial processes, and ultimately the dismissals of his cases. Mr. Trump was indicted twice by grand juries at both Washington, D.C., and Florida for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results and for improperly retaining classified documents, respectively. “We followed Justice Department policies,” Mr. Smith said in his opening statement. “I made my decisions without regard to President Trump’s political associations, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election.”“President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he wilfully broke the law,” Mr. Smith asserted.For hours, he was praised by Democrats for his work and pilloried by Republicans for what they say was a partisan investigation of Mr. Trump, who at the time of his first indictment in the summer of 2023 was overwhelmingly favored to win the Republican presidential nomination. Several hours into his testimony, he was asked by a Democrat, Congresswoman Becca Balint, if he believed he would be indicted because of his prosecutions of the president. “I believe they will do everything in their power to do that because they have been ordered to by the president,” Mr. Smith said of prosecutors at the Department of Justice. Ms. Balint asked about Mr. Trump’s public comments that Mr. Smith — whom the president has called “deranged” — ought to be investigated by the federal government. “The statements are meant to intimidate me. I will not be intimidated. I think these statements are also made as a warning to others,” Mr. Smith said when asked about the president’s attacks. Many Republicans pressed Mr. Smith on why he sought phone records from GOP members of Congress, many of whom had been in contact with the president leading up to his attempt to decertify his election defeat on January 6. Some records were requested by the FBI before Mr. Smith was appointed special counsel, and none of the records obtained by investigators contained the content of text messages or phone calls. Rather, they only got access to when Mr. Trump and lawmakers were calling each other. “The subpoenas that we secured, we secured with nondisclosure orders from a judge,” Mr. Smith said, explaining that he was worried that if it became public that he was gaining access to lawmakers’ phone records, Mr. Trump could try to obstruct justice in some way. He cited attacks, including death threats, on election workers as Mr. Trump was trying to overturn the election results. “I had grave concerns about obstruction of justice in this investigation, specifically with regards to Donald Trump,” Mr. Smith said. “I had a duty to protect witnesses.”On Thursday, Mr. Trump seemed to confirm Mr. Smith’s prediction that an indictment was in the works. “Based on his testimony today, there is no question that Deranged Jack Smith should be prosecuted for his actions,” Mr. Trump said. “He destroyed the lives of many innocent people, which has been his history as a prosecutor. At a minimum, he committed large scale perjury!”Back in October, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social that not only Mr. Smith, but Attorney General Merrick Garland, former FBI director Christopher Wray, and other top DOJ officials should be prosecuted. The hearing on Thursday was tense not only because of Republicans’ animus toward Mr. Smith, but because of anger simmering in the audience. During one committee break, a former Capitol Police officer who was attacked on January 6, 2021, Michael Fanone, got into an argument with a far-right activist in the audience, Ivan Raiklin. Mr. Fanone had to be pulled away from Mr. Raiklin, who famously argued Republican-controlled state legislatures should award Mr. Trump their electoral votes even before votes were counted in 2024. Several other former Capitol Police officers were present during the hearing on Thursday. Mr. Fanone also got into it with a Republican member of the committee. Congressman Troy Nehls used his time to blame Capitol Police leadership — not the rioters — for the attack on the Capitol five years ago. He specifically addressed the former officers in the audience, saying that they should train their anger at their former bosses. As Mr. Nehls was speaking, Mr. Fanone coughed and said, “Go f*** yourself” while covering his mouth. He could also be seen showing Mr. Nehls his middle finger while the congressman was speaking.

Jack Smith, Defending Trump Cases in Congress, Predicts Federal Prosecutors Will Do ‘Everything in Their Power’ To Indict Him

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