Former United States Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended his prosecution of President Donald Trump, rejecting Republican claims that the cases were politically motivated.
Testifying before lawmakers at the House Judiciary Committee, Smith said the two federal cases, one over Trump’s handling of classified documents and the other over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, were based on evidence, not politics.
Both cases were dropped after Trump was re-elected in November 2024, in line with longstanding Department of Justice policy barring the investigation or prosecution of a sitting president. Smith resigned shortly before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
The hearing marked the first time the US public heard at length from Smith since his resignation. He told the panel that he expected Trump’s Justice Department to try to bring criminal charges against him.
These are the key takeaways:
What specifics do we know about the cases?
Smith, a public corruption prosecutor, was appointed in November 2022 to oversee the investigations into Trump.
These are the two cases he investigated:
Classified documents
Smith investigated Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office at the end of his first term.
The criminal case included 31 counts under the US Espionage Act for the willful retention of national defence information, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Separate charges accused Trump of conspiring to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators.
Prosecutors alleged that Trump removed highly sensitive documents from the White House when he left office in 2021 and later stored them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
2020 election results
The second case focused on Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Prosecutors argued that Trump sought to block the lawful transfer of power after the vote, rather than accept the outcome.
The charges followed a wide-ranging investigation into the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of voters.
Smith did not accuse Trump of directly inciting the Capitol riot. Instead, the case centred on Trump’s actions in the weeks between his election defeat and the violence in Washington, examining efforts to pressure officials, advance false claims of fraud and interfere with the certification of the election results.
What were the main takeaways from Thursday’s testimony?
‘No one should be above the law’
Smith said his investigation into Trump was driven by evidence and the law.
“We followed the facts and we followed the law. Where that led us was to an indictment of an unprecedented criminal scheme to block the peaceful transfer of power,” Smith said.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. 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,” Smith said in his opening remarks.
“No one should be above the law in this country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,” Smith added.
Still, the special counsel said he stopped short of filing a charge of insurrection against Trump. That was pursued in the House impeachment of Trump in the aftermath of January 6, though the president was acquitted of the sole count of incitement of an insurrection by the Senate.
Cassidy Hutchinson
Republicans have long focused on challenging the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, which was a key moment in the congressional investigation into the January 6 attack.
Hutchinson told the committee she had been informed that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle as he demanded to go to the US Capitol. Other witnesses later disputed that account.
During the hearing, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, the committee’s chair, pressed Jack Smith on the episode. “Mr Smith, is Cassidy Hutchinson a liar?” Jordan asked.
Smith said Hutchinson’s account was second-hand and that investigators were unable to confirm it. He said the Secret Service agent in the vehicle at the time did not back up the claim.
Jordan pressed whether Smith would have brought Hutchinson forward to testify anyway, and Smith said he had not made “any final determinations”.
Jordan seized on that response, arguing it showed prosecutors were determined to go after Trump.
In fact, Smith said, one of the “central challenges” of the case was to present it in a concise way, “because we did have so many witnesses” – state officials, Trump campaign workers and advisers – to testify.
“Some of the most powerful witnesses were witnesses who, in fact, were fellow Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump, who had campaigned for him and who wanted him to win the election,” Smith added.
‘Threats to democracy’
One Democrat, Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, asked how he would describe the consequences – for US democracy – of not holding Trump accountable for alleged violations of the law and his oath.
“If we do not hold the most powerful people in our society to the same standards of the rule of law, then it can be catastrophic,” Smith said.
“Because if they don’t have to follow the law, it’s very easy to understand why people would think they don’t have to follow the law as well.”
Smith continued, “If we don’t hold people to account when they commit crimes, that it sends a message that those crimes are OK, that our society accepts that… It can endanger our election process, it can endanger election workers, and ultimately our democracy.”
‘I don’t get it’
Smith sharply criticised Trump’s decision to issue mass pardons for people convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
On his first day back in office, Trump granted clemency to all those charged over the riot, including hundreds who had been accused or convicted of assaulting police officers.
When asked about the move, Smith said: “The people who assaulted police officers and were convicted after trial, in my view and I think in the view of the judges who sentenced them to prison, are dangerous to their communities. As you mentioned, some of these people have already committed crimes against their communities again, and I think all of us – if we are reasonable – know that there is going to be more crimes committed by these people in the future.
“I do not understand why you would mass pardon people who assaulted police officers,” Smith said on Thursday. “I don’t get it. I never will.”
According to reports, at least 140 police officers were injured during the Capitol attack.
Smith defends his work
Republican lawmakers sought to portray Smith as an overly aggressive prosecutor who needed to be restrained by senior Justice Department officials as he pursued cases against Trump before the former president’s potential return to office.
They focused, in particular, on Smith’s decision to obtain phone records for members of Congress, including then–House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, arguing the move amounted to overreach.
In a heated exchange, Republican Representative Brandon Gill of Texas accused Smith of using nondisclosure orders to “hide” subpoenas from both their targets and the public.
Smith rejected those claims, saying the collection of phone records was a routine investigative step aimed at understanding the “scope of the conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election.
“My office didn’t spy on anyone,” Smith said.
He added that nondisclosure orders were sought because of concerns about witness intimidation, pointing to Trump’s public warnings that he would be “coming after” people who crossed him.
“I had grave concerns about obstruction of justice in this investigation, specifically with regards to Donald Trump,” Smith said.
Smith said prosecutors are not required “to wait until someone gets killed before they move for an order to protect the proceedings”.
Trump responds
Trump appeared to be following Smith’s testimony live, posting on Truth Social as the hearing unfolded and praising Republicans for their attacks on the former special counsel.
“Deranged Jack Smith is being DECIMATED before Congress. It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions,” Trump wrote. “He destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy. Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law.”
Trump framed the investigations as a “Democrat SCAM” and said those involved should “pay a big price”.
Trump has deployed similar tactics in the past, using his social media account in September to direct the Justice Department to indict other critics of his actions, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.