Jack Smith faces House deposition on Trump investigations Wednesday

Former special counsel Jack Smith will appear on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, where House lawmakers plan to question Smith directly for the first time about his investigations and prosecutions of President Donald Trump.

Smith will meet behind closed doors with members of the House Judiciary Committee for testimony, during which both sides will interview him at one-hour intervals.

His appearance comes amid the committee’s ongoing investigation into his private consulting work and as Republicans generally accuse Smith of overly stalking Trump over the former president’s efforts to object to the 2020 election results and his alleged withholding of classified documents.

Republicans criticized Smith for deciding not to speak out against Trump during the presidential campaign, for trying to expedite court proceedings and for sending the phone data of hundreds of pro-Trump individuals and organizations, including members of Congress, to the court.

JACK SMITH WITHDRAWED TO TESTIMONY WITH THE HOUSE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

Smith plans to address what he sees as mischaracterizations of his work, including subpoenas, sources familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital. Sources said Smith would refuse to answer questions he believed were covered by grand jury secrecy rules or Judge Aileen Cannon’s seal on some materials related to the classified documents case.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) aims to eventually release the full transcript of the testimony, another source familiar told Fox News Digital, but that could take time because rules around deposition require Republicans and Democrats to agree to release the testimony or the committee to vote on releasing the testimony. Smith’s team should have a chance to look into this, too.

Smith had previously told Congress he was willing to attend a public hearing; but Jordan still subpoenaed him for private testimony. The president told Fox News: Maria Bartiromo He preferred this format because lawmakers and House lawyers would have more time to question Smith.

DEMOCRATS INCREASE CALLS TO RELEASE JACK SMITH’S SPECIAL COUNSEL REPORT ON TRUMP’S SECRET DOCUMENTS CASE

Representative Jim Jordan watches a hearing with the House Judiciary Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. on September 3, 2025 (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Trump reiterated Smith’s preference for a public hearing, telling reporters that the former special prosecutor was a “sick man” and that he would “rather have him testify publicly because there’s no way he could answer the questions.” Jordan said he was open to Smith testifying publicly at a later date.

Jordan has criticized Smith’s work for several years as a “weaponization” of prosecutorial authority. Among the issues Jordan plans to bring up when he meets with Smith on Tuesday are Smith’s subpoenas for Republican senators and members of the House of Representatives who were in contact with Trump during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. These subpoenas were issued as part of Arctic Frost, the FBI investigation that led Smith to impeach Trump over the 2020 election.

“We want to call Jack Smith and ask him all kinds of questions, the most important of which is the idea that he’s trying to get the phone records of nearly half the rotten Republicans in Congress and a bunch of Americans,” Jordan said.

President Donald Trump at the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., February 28, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

While the targeted lawmakers called the subpoenas a scandal and a violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers, Smith argued they were narrowly tailored and “entirely appropriate.”

CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION

Smith faced significant hurdles in pursuing two cases against Trump and ultimately dismissed the charges after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a Justice Department policy that discourages prosecution of sitting presidents. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly labeled Smith “unstable” and “thug” and called for him to be imprisoned.

The hearing will start at 10.00