Smith defends his Trump probes at congressional hearing
Former US Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations into US President Donald Trump at a congressional hearing; He emphasized that Trump acted without any involvement in politics and did not think twice about the accusations against him.
Smith testified behind closed doors last month but returned to the House Judiciary Committee for his first public hearing since leaving the job last year.
The hearing was divided along partisan lines as Republican lawmakers sought to undermine the former Justice Department official while Democrats hoped to obtain new, damaging testimony about Trump’s behavior.
“It’s always been about politics,” said Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“Maybe for them,” retorted Rep. Jamie Raskin, the panel’s top Democrat, in his opening remarks.
“But for us it’s all about the rule of law.”
Smith told lawmakers that, as special counsel, he stands by his decision to file criminal charges against Trump in separate lawsuits accusing the Republican of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election after losing to Democrat Joe Biden and of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House.
He said that as special counsel he “followed Department of Justice policies, observed legal requirements, and acted in accordance with the facts and the law.”
“Our investigation uncovered evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” Smith said.
“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 is a Republican or a Democrat.”
“No one can be above the law in our country, and the law required him to be held accountable. That’s what I did,” he said.
Republicans have sought to portray Smith as an overly aggressive, harshly accusatory prosecutor who should be “reined in” by senior officials and the courts as he pursued Trump during his campaign.
They pressed Smith over his decision to search and review the phone records of more than a half-dozen Republican lawmakers who were in contact with Trump on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, as his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Trump’s 2020 election loss.
The records revealed the length and duration of the calls but not the content of the communications.
Smith said collecting phone records was a “common practice” and that he sought the data because he wanted to understand the “scope of the conspiracy” to overturn the election.
Smith was summoned to the hearing by Jordan, who argued that the investigation was motivated by a desire to derail Trump’s candidacy.
“We must never forget what happened, what they did to the man our people twice elected,” Jordan said.
Smith vehemently denied this and said the evidence placed Trump’s actions at the heart of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
“The evidence here has made it clear that President Trump is, by and large, the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy,” Smith said.
“These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack on the Capitol that is part of this case could not have happened without him. Other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit.”
Trump has denied all the accusations and has repeatedly argued that the accusations were improperly aimed at harming his 2024 campaign.
Neither case reached trial, and Smith dropped the cases after Trump was re-elected, citing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
The Trump administration fired dozens of Justice Department lawyers, FBI agents and employees who worked on the investigations.
Smith was unlikely to share new information about the classified documents investigation on Thursday.
via Reuters
