Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations of President Trump, telling congressional lawmakers Wednesday that he made prosecutorial decisions without regard to Trump's "political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election," according to portions of his opening statement obtained by NPR.
Testifying behind closed doors, Smith also told the House Judiciary Committee that his team developed "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump took part in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Investigators also had "powerful evidence" that Trump had willfully retained classified documents and tried to obstruct justice to hide that he had them.
"The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions," Smith told lawmakers.
Smith appeared in private before the Republican-led committee in response to a subpoena after the panel rejected his offer to testify publicly about his investigations.
Those probes led to two criminal indictments against Trump: one for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election, and the other for allegedly obstructing justice and mishandling classified documents.
After Trump's 2024 election win, the Justice Department dropped the election case and abandoned its appeal effort of a federal judge's dismissal of the classified documents prosecution.
Trump and his allies, including GOP lawmakers on the panel, have long accused Smith of investigating Trump for political reasons — a claim Smith denied.
He also stood by his decision to pursue the cases.
"If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat," he said.
In addition to the portions of his opening remarks obtained by NPR, Smith is expected to use his testimony to try to correct what he views as mischaracterizations of his work, according to a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity in order to discuss the private deposition. That includes the special counsel office's obtaining phone records of some Republican members of congress.
Despite his appearance taking place behind closed doors, Smith will still be limited in what he can say. For example, he won't be able to answer questions related to grand jury materials, which are still covered by secrecy rules.
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