Former special counsel Jack Smith faced pointed questions Thursday on Capitol Hill about whether he had any “regrets” over the two criminal investigations that loomed over Donald Trump during the 2024 campaign.
Pressed by Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, Smith offered a carefully framed answer: “If I have any regret, it would be not expressing enough appreciation for my staff, who worked so hard in these investigations. We followed the facts and the law. These people who worked for me sacrificed endlessly and have endured way too much for just doing their jobs. If anything, I wished I would have thanked them…”
Kiley shot back, “No mistakes. There’s that humility. Mr. Chair, I yield back.”
It was Smith’s first public testimony since leaving his post last year, after he appeared for a closed-door interview with lawmakers last month. Over the course of a five-hour hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Smith repeatedly insisted his work was not driven by politics and said he stood by the charges he authorized.
A hearing split along party lines
The session quickly fell into familiar grooves. Republicans cast Smith as an overzealous prosecutor fixated on Trump. Democrats argued the investigations were legitimate and sought to underscore the former president’s conduct.
“It was always about politics,” said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee’s Republican chair.
“Maybe for them,” Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland countered in his opening statement. “But for us, it’s all about the rule of law.”
Smith: “We followed the facts and the law”
Smith again defended the decision to charge Trump in two separate cases: one alleging a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election after Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, and another accusing him of improperly retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office.
He said his office complied with Justice Department policies and legal standards and acted solely on evidence.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” Smith told lawmakers. “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. No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account.”
Fallout inside the administration
The hearing came as the Trump administration continues actions critics describe as retaliation against officials who investigated him. Smith said the Justice Department dismissed multiple lawyers and staffers who worked on his team. He also noted that an independent watchdog agency responsible for enforcing rules against partisan political activity opened an investigation into him last summer.
“In my opinion, these people are the best of public servants,” Smith said of his former team members. “Our country owes them a debt of gratitude, and we are all less safe because many of these experienced and dedicated law enforcement professionals have been fired.”
Smith was appointed in 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the Trump investigations. Both probes resulted in indictments, but Smith and his team later abandoned the cases after Trump returned to the White House, citing longstanding Justice Department views that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime.
GOP attacks focus on “overreach”
Republicans, led by Jordan, framed the investigations as an attempt to damage Trump politically. “We should never forget what took place, what they did to the guy we the people elected twice,” Jordan said.
Smith rejected the claim, saying the evidence put Trump “at the heart” of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power.
Kiley and other Republicans argued Smith pursued “maximum litigation advantage at every turn” and accused him of “repeatedly circumv[enting] constitutional limitations.”
A major flashpoint was Smith’s move to obtain and review phone records for more than a half-dozen GOP lawmakers who communicated with Trump on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The records showed timing and call length, not content. Republicans called it overreach; Smith said it was standard.
“It is a common practice,” Smith said. “We sought this information because we needed to understand the scope of the conspiracy to overturn the election.”
He added that the evidence showed Trump was “by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit.”
Few new details on the classified documents probe
Smith offered little new information about the classified documents case. A report prepared by his team remains sealed under an order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee in Florida. Trump’s attorneys this week asked the court to permanently block its release.
Smith declined to discuss the sealed report but maintained his office followed standard procedures throughout the investigation.
