Jack Smith defends Trump investigations to Congress

WASHINGTON (CN) — Former special counsel Jack Smith told members of Congress during a private deposition this month that criminal charges against President Donald Trump were based on facts and the law, rejecting claims from Republicans that his probe was motivated by political malice.

And Smith — the independent prosecutor who investigated Trump for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and his handling of classified documents at his Florida resort — defended his now-defunct case against the president, telling lawmakers that he believed prosecutors had proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” of Trump’s guilt.

Smith’s work as special counsel under the Biden administration has been a central issue for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, who have long accused the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden of “weaponizing” itself against Trump and his allies. The panel this month issued a subpoena to the former special counsel demanding he sit for a closed-door deposition.

According to a transcript of Smith’s testimony, published Wednesday afternoon by the Judiciary Committee, the former special counsel repeatedly denied to lawmakers that political influence played any role in his move to charge Trump.

“It was based on the facts and the law,” Smith told members of the House panel. “I ultimately made that decision, but I consulted with my team of prosecutors on that case, who were outstanding public servants, people with great experience in complex investigations.”

The former special counsel told lawmakers he had not been pressured by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, Biden or any other White House or Justice Department official to charge Trump in the election interference or classified documents cases.

Smith also testified he and his team of special prosecutors had debated whether or not to bring charges against then-former President Trump, arguing he would have been “perfectly comfortable” dropping the case if he did not believe the facts or law justified moving forward with criminal charges.

“That was a continual process to decide if, in fact, we could go forward,” he said.

Smith also told members of the Judiciary Committee he stood by his conclusion that he had a “strong case” against Trump, pointing to the first volume of his special counsel report. He pushed back against questions from lawmakers about whether he had made conclusive determinations about the president’s guilt ahead of a possible jury trial.

“I think that it’s important to state clearly the amount of evidence we had and the basis for why we proceeded,” the former special counsel told lawmakers. “The reason the report was written the way it was written and the reason I said what I had just said is because it was our belief that if we went to trial we would prevail.”

During his private testimony, Smith also touched on several other issues related to his election interference probe and the classified documents investigation — including reports he had acquired phone records of several Republican lawmakers from around the 2020 presidential election.

Smith explained he had subpoenaed phone toll records for congressional Republicans, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, to corroborate evidence as prosecutors examined Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results.

The lawmakers’ contacts with co-conspirators and the president himself were relevant data points, he pointed out, adding that prosecutors had evidence Trump had ordered his allies to call Republican senators on Jan. 6, 2021, and pressure them to delay congressional certification of Biden’s election victory.

“Getting the exact toll records for when that happened was relevant for our investigation both to question other witnesses about it, so we had an accurate timeline and also to corroborate that the call happened at approximately the time witnesses said it happened,” Smith told the Judiciary Committee.

Smith’s testimony this month occurred in private despite complaints from House Democrats, who had demanded the former special counsel sit for a public hearing. Trump himself had signaled he was open to such an arrangement. It’s unclear whether the Judiciary Committee might hold a public hearing in the future.

Democrats this month also demanded the Justice Department release the second volume of Smith’s special counsel report dealing with the classified documents probe. Though the agency dropped the case this year, a court order from January has kept the report under wraps.

The Justice Department has said it has no plans to publish the second volume of Smith’s report, saying it would not violate an order from a federal judge.

The former special counsel, for his part, told the Judiciary Committee during his deposition he had not reviewed the second volume of his report because he “didn’t want any implication whatsoever” he had violated the court order. Ahead of his testimony, the Justice Department informed Smith he could not discuss any details of that report.

Before he was reelected last November, Trump faced federal charges from Smith related to election interference and his handling of classified documents from his first term in office, stored at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The Justice Department dropped both cases this year.

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