Jack Smith told House committee he had ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt’ in cases against Trump | House of Representatives

Jack Smith, the former justice department special counsel who led the aborted federal investigation into Donald Trump, told a congressional committee that he never spoke to Joe Biden about their case. transcript of a statement It was published on Wednesday.

In closed-door testimony to the House judiciary committee earlier this month, Smith defended her accusations against Trump for allegedly possessing classified documents and trying to overturn the 2020 election and warned of the consequences of allowing election interference to go unpunished.

“Theoretically, what happens if there is election interference and those responsible are not held accountable?” Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal asked.

“This has become the new norm and that is how we run elections,” Smith replied, according to the transcript.

“So if you had to explain the cost to our democracy, what would it be?” the congressman asked.

“It’s a disaster,” Smith said.

Trump and his Republican allies claimed the former special counsel was a key figure in the justice department that Biden “weaponized” against his predecessor. The Republican-controlled House judiciary committee heard testimony from one of Smith’s top aides earlier this year and months later subpoenaed the former special counsel for private testimony. Smith had offered to voluntarily testify publicly, as special counsel usually do.

Under questioning from Democratic congressman Dan Goldman, Smith said he worked without interference from the attorney general who appointed him, Merrick Garland, or other senior justice department officials.

“Has President Biden given you any instructions about what you should or should not do regarding these investigations?” asked Goldman.

Smith responded, “No,” and later stated that he had never spoken to Biden about their case.

Smith was appointed in November 2022 and quickly filed two federal lawsuits against Trump, who also faces charges of state-level election interference in Georgia and falsifying business records in New York.

Although he would later be convicted of 34 felonies in the Manhattan case, none of Trump’s federal indictments went to trial before Trump returned to office following the 2024 election, after which Smith dropped the charges in line with justice department policy.

The election interference case has been slowed by pretrial motions, including a supreme court ruling granting presidents immunity for official acts and forcing Smith to amend his case. The classified documents case was hampered by decisions by Florida judge Aileen Cannon, who at one point dismissed Smith’s indictment.

Smith wrote a report on their investigation, and the portion covering the election interference case was released before Biden left office. But Cannon banned public release of the episode discussing the accusations related to the classified documents, but Democrats on the judiciary committee asked him to reverse his decision.

At the beginning of the hearing, Smith’s attorney, Peter Koski, told the committee that the former special prosecutor received an email from the justice department advising him to refrain from talking about his evidence in the case because of Cannon’s decision.

“This restriction significantly limits Mr. Smith’s ability to discuss the classified documents case. However, Mr. Smith is committed to doing his best to answer questions in accordance with the department’s guidance,” Koski said.

In his testimony, which lasted more than eight hours, Smith insisted he had no political motivation in accusing Trump and said he believed “we have evidence beyond a reasonable doubt in both cases.”

“If I were asked today whether to indict a former president based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat,” he said in his opening statement. Smith later told an unnamed committee staffer that he would impeach Biden or Barack Obama based on similar evidence.

Republicans were in turmoil after it was revealed that federal investigators had obtained data on the phone use of some members of Congress that was used as part of Smith’s investigation. Smith responded in his statement, saying: “Recent accounts of my team’s work are false and misleading” and that “the recordings were legally subpoenaed and relevant to the completion of a comprehensive investigation.”

Smith said the only data collected was incoming and outgoing phone numbers and call times, not their content. He added that the data helps show that Trump continued to pressure his allies to prevent Biden from officially becoming president even as his followers stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

“President Trump and his friends called members of Congress to further their criminal plans, urging them to further delay the certification of the 2020 election. I did not elect these members, President Trump did,” Smith said.

Trump has repeatedly railed against Smith, and the former special counsel acknowledged in his testimony the risk that the president could go after him.

“I have no doubt that the president seeks revenge against me,” Smith said.