Jack Smith, the former special counsel for the U.S. Justice Department, recently defended his investigation into former President Donald Trump during a hearing with the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee. Smith asserted that the foundation for the criminal charges brought against Trump was firmly based on the former president’s own actions.

Smith’s private testimony came in response to ongoing attempts by Trump appointees and Republican lawmakers to undermine his investigation, claiming it represented an abuse of the legal system. The inquiries centered on two criminal cases Smith had initially pursued in 2023, which accused Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents after his presidency and conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Both cases were dropped following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, which Smith attributes to a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

“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 stated, as reported in his opening remarks witnessed by News.

Smith’s appearance was prompted by a subpoena from Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who arranged for the hearing to take place behind closed doors. Smith had initially requested a public hearing, believing transparency would benefit the discussion.

Jordan, speaking to reporters, framed the investigation as a political attack targeting the Republican Party and its presidential candidate, Trump. “This was political. This was about going after our candidate for president,” he remarked during an interview with News.

Democratic lawmakers expressed disappointment over the closed format of the hearing, arguing that public testimony from Smith would have yielded significant insights into Trump’s actions. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the committee’s leading Democrat, noted that a public hearing would have been “absolutely devastating to the president.” He added, “He’s answered every single question to the satisfaction of any reasonable-minded person in that room.”

Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington emphasized that Smith indicated Trump’s efforts to contest the 2020 election, culminating in the January 6 Capitol attack, could have posed a catastrophic threat to democracy in America.

Republican lawmakers have raised concerns over disclosures from the Justice Department indicating that investigators sought information from various conservative organizations. These disclosures included the acquisition of limited cell phone data from eight Republican senators during the critical period surrounding the January 6 attack. Trump allies argue that these actions illustrate a politically motivated overreach in Smith’s investigation.

In response to these claims, Smith reiterated that his investigative team adhered to Justice Department protocols and was not swayed by political motivations. He characterized the records sought as “relevant to complete a comprehensive investigation.”

Smith also highlighted that Trump and his associates had attempted to engage Members of Congress in a bid to further their alleged criminal plans, urging them to delay the certification of the 2020 election results. “I didn’t choose those Members; President Trump did,” Smith concluded.