Jack Smith takes on Capitol Hill Republcans

Washington Post - Former special counsel Jack Smith returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend his derailed efforts to prosecute President Donald Trump, telling lawmakers he would not “be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the president.

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Smith rejected Republican assertions that his investigations of the then-former president were driven by partisanship or were used to improperly surveil GOP lawmakers during the Biden administration.

Smith said he stood by his decision to charge Trump in two felony indictments during his years out of office, the first focused on his alleged mishandling of classified documents and the second on his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“If asked whether to prosecute a former president today based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or a Democrat,” Smith said.

With that assertion, the former special counsel kicked off his latest high-stakes clash with Republican lawmakers amid a fight to control the public’s understanding of Smith’s twin investigations, both of which he was compelled to abandon after Trump won the 2024 election.