Ex-special counsel Jack Smith to publicly testify about Trump investigations

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Former special counsel Jack Smith will publicly testify for the first time on Jan. 22 about his investigations of President Donald Trump, according to the House Judiciary Committee.

“He’ll be a tough witness, but we’re going to present the facts, and I think, frankly, we’re going to show that Jack Smith was part of this bigger effort” to bring down Trump, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a Fox News Channel interview.

During a closed-door session in December, Smith defended his probes to Congress and said his team developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The case was dropped by Smith after Trump won reelection in 2024.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, arrives to interview former Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith for a sworn deposition as part of the oversight into DOJ investigations into President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Smith also reportedly said there was “powerful evidence” the president kept highly classified documents after leaving office in 2021, another charge.

Emails between the FBI and Department of Justice in 2022 show that the bureau didn’t see probable cause to raid Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, but did it under pressure from the Biden DOJ.

“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 Democrat,” Smith said, according to people who were reportedly in the private hearing.

Republicans have argued for years that the investigations into the president were part of an effort to harm him, although the Biden administration, which appointed Smith, rejected the idea. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland said when he named Smith that the special counsel was going to use “independent prosecutorial judgment” to decide whether to press charges.

Just before the New Year, the House Judiciary Committee released a 255-page transcript, as well as the 8-hour and 20-minute video, of its closed-door deposition with Smith.

“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for nine of those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the 10 indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,” the former special counsel said.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called Smith a “thug,” a “failed prosecutor,” and a “bad man.”