WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith told senators on Tuesday that he stands by his two criminal investigations of President Donald Trump and will not be silenced by threats of prosecution, as he faced hours of Republican accusations of abuse of power, according to Reuters.
Smith, who brought two since-dismissed criminal cases against Trump over his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents after his first term, appeared voluntarily before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his second public hearing before Congress on his Trump probes.
“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump,” Smith said in his opening statement. “I made these decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.”
“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 Republican or a Democrat,” he added.
“I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from the president or others,” Smith told the committee. He also condemned the firings of investigators from his office, accusing the Trump administration of the “vilification of the agents, prosecutors and staff who served on my team.”
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, pressed Smith over whether his office improperly obtained financial information and other records from Republican groups and officials during the investigations. “Yes, we acquired financial information,” Smith responded, saying the subpoenas were issued “to conduct a criminal investigation of one of the most serious crimes that has ever happened in our nation’s history.”
Grassley said his office had information, via whistleblower disclosures, that Smith’s team also secured records on Republican donors and sensitive communications between journalists and government officials. Democrats on the panel generally defended Smith and argued the hearing revisited investigations that had already been heavily examined.
Both of Smith’s cases against Trump were dropped after Trump’s 2024 election victory, under longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.