At Hearing with Special Counsel Jack Smith, Republicans Peddle Lies as Smith Forcefully Defends Investigations Exposing Trump’s Rampant Criminality and Condemns Trump’s Retaliation Against Career Staff

Washington, D.C. (January 23, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, led Democrats in defending former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into President Donald Trump, which developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Donald Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election to remain in power and stole, retained, hid, and lied about highly classified documents after leaving office.

As a result of Judge Aileen Cannon’s gag order, Special Counsel Smith was blocked from discussing the classified documents investigation with the Committee. At the conclusion of the hearing, Ranking Member Raskin asked Chairman Jordan whether he’d commit to bringing Special Counsel Smith back as soon as Judge Cannon’s gag order is lifted, as early as next month. When Chairman Jordan refused to commit, Ranking Member Raskin presented Chairman Jordan with a letter signed by every Democrat on the Committee, invoking the right, under House Rules, to a Minority Day, in order to allow the Committee to hear from Special Counsel Smith about the second half of his investigation.

The Special Counsel’s investigation produced evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict Donald Trump and his co-conspirators of federal crimes. 

•  In response to a question from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Special Counsel Smith affirmed: “Our investigation revealed that Donald Trump was not looking for honest answers about whether there was fraud in the election. He was looking for ways to stay in power. And when people told him things that conflicted with him staying in power, he rejected them, or he chose not even to contact people like that who would know if the election was done properly in the state? On the other hand, when individuals would say things that would allow him to stay in power, no matter how fantastical, he would latch on to those that pattern, Over time, we felt it was powerful evidence that he, in fact, knew that the fraud claims he was making were false.” 
   
• Rep. Pramila Jayapal said: “The facts, according to your report, are simple. Without a single piece of evidence, Trump sowed doubt about the 2020 election results and urged his followers to ‘walk down to the capitol and fight like hell on January 6th.’ And that’s exactly what they did. Thousands of insurrectionists violently tried to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election and doing our duty, and they assaulted law enforcement officers, some of whom are sitting right here in the chamber with us. I was trapped in the House gallery with a small number of Members that day, and I will never forget the pounding on the doors and the insurrectionists threatening to kill us right outside. My Republican colleagues keep trying to rewrite history.” 
   
• Rep. Ted Lieu debunked Republicans’ misleading claims that Special Counsel Smith unlawfully targeted Members of Congress: “What Republicans are trying to argue is somehow if you’re doing an investigation, you can’t do stuff to Senators or Members of Congress. Get out of here. We’re just under the law like everybody else. And by the way, the Speech and Debate Clause only applies to legislative acts, communications with legislative acts. Stealing a fricking election, trying to do so, is not a legislative act. It is a crime.” 
   
• Rep. Joe Neguse noted that four heroic police officers who protected the Capitol and Members of Congress on Jan. 6 were in the audience: “Perhaps the Chairman could muster the courage to call the four witnesses [...] I see standing behind you, Mr. Smith: the four police officers who risked everything, life and limb. To do what? To protect the Republican members on the dais. It’s an outrage that they now sit here and have the audacity to try to rewrite history in front of the very officers who sacrificed everything to protect them.” 
   
• Rep. Lucy McBath said: “In your final report, you wrote that ‘the through line of all Mr. Trump’s criminal efforts was deceit, knowingly false claims of fraud.’ [...] President Trump didn’t just spread lies about the election, in your words, ‘he preyed on Republican officials in Georgia and other states who believed would help him.’” 
   
• In response to a question from Ranking Member Raskin, Special Counsel Smith reminded the Committee that neither the President—nor any person—has a First Amendment right to commit fraud. He said: “The First Amendment is something we took seriously in our investigation. […] Speech that is used to facilitate a crime, a fraud crime in particular, is not protected under the First Amendment. The Supreme Court precedent on that is clear. This is an issue that we litigated before the District Court, and the District Court ruled, as I just stated, that it is not, in fact, protected.”
   
• Rep. Deborah Ross asked: “Did your investigation find any of the rioters trying to use Trump’s words and calls to action as a defense in the criminal cases against them?” Special Counsel Smith said: “I think we cited a number of rioters who ultimately admitted that they had committed their crimes at the behest and in the name of Donald Trump.” 
   
• Rep. Chuy García asked: “Does pardoning violent rioters who brutalize law enforcement officers—peppering them, tasering them, beating them up, kicking them, smashing them with door frames—make our country safer?” Special Counsel Smith said: “Absolutely not.” Rep. García continued: “As a prosecutor, can you describe why these pardons make our communities less safe and undermine our criminal legal system more broadly?” Special Counsel Smith explained: “The people who assaulted police officers and were convicted after trial, in my view, and I think in the view of the judges who sentenced them to prison, are dangerous to their community. Some of these people have already committed crimes against their communities again. And I think all of us, if we’re reasonable, know that there’s going to be more crimes committed by these people in the future. I do not understand why you would mass pardon people who assaulted police officers. I don’t get it, I never will.” 
   
• Rep. Dan Goldman asked: “Who gave evidence to you that supported your conclusion that [Trump] knew that he was lying [about the election]?” Special Counsel Smith explained: “That came from a number of sources. It came from staff in the White House who talked to him and told him that his fraud claims were not true. It came from staff on his campaign who told him that. It came from members of the Department of Justice. It came from state officials, who, when he tried to press them to do things in contravention of their oath, they refused to. They asked him for evidence and his coconspirators never provided it.” 

Jack Smith is a decorated career prosecutor who followed the facts and the law. Republicans’ claims that his office was politicized are baseless.

• In response to a question by Rep. Jerry Nadler, Special Counsel Smith said: “During my time as the chief of Public Integrity, I investigated cases involving both Republicans and Democrats. The standard in all of those cases was the same: follow the facts and the law. It didn’t matter what party you were in; what mattered was the facts of the case. There were cases I brought against Democrats and cases I brought against Republicans. There were also cases that I investigated and did not bring against Democrats and Republicans. Party affiliation played no role in my investigations.” 
   
• Rep. Steve Cohen said: “Did Merrick Garland ever pressure you to bring an indictment or to do anything in your investigation?” Special Counsel Smith confirmed: “No.” Rep. Cohen continued: “Did anybody else in the Administration, President Biden, Vice-President President Harris, et cetera?” Special Counsel Smith explained: “I was given the independence to conduct my investigation, and I came to the decision to bring charges in this case without undue influence from anybody in the Department.” 
   
• Rep. Hank Johnson said: “There are allegations that President Trump was the victim of, ’lawfare’ and accusations that the Department of Justice lawyers who prosecuted Donald Trump used, ’fabricated indictments and rigged show trials.’ Did you, Mr. Smith, or the men and women working on your team, work to fabricate indictments or put on rigged show trials?” Special Counsel Smith affirmed: “No, we secured indictments from grand juries, and we were prepared to prove our case in court beyond a reasonable doubt.” 
   
• Rep. Eric Swalwell said: “Mr. Smith, I want you to have the utmost confidence in what you did. You did everything right. Harry Dunn, Danny Hodges, Sergeant Mike Fanone, they did everything right. These guys, my Republican colleagues, are a joke. They’re wrong. History will harshly judge them.” 
   
• In response to a question from Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove on what Special Counsel Smith would say to those on the Committee who claim he chose to target Republicans because he only collected phone records for Republicans, the Special Counsel affirmed: “If a Democrat committed these acts, we would have sought those [records].” 
   
• Rep. Jasmine Crockett said: “The Chairman and other Members of this Committee have spent all day attacking you and trying to rewrite the history of January 6th. But Mr. Jim Jordan, the Chairman [...] failed to mention that he was in direct contact with the White House in the days leading up to and on January 6th, which is why his toll records were subpoenaed by your office.” 

Jack Smith rejected Republicans’ attempts to intimidate him from speaking the truth about Trump’s many crimes.  

• In response to a question from Rep. Becca Balint about Trump’s Truth Social post shared during the hearing attacking Special Counsel Smith as a “deranged animal,” the Special Counsel explained: “I think [Trump’s] statements are meant to intimidate me. I will not be intimidated. I think these statements are also made as a warning to others: what will happen if they stand up? And, I am, as I say, I’m not going to be intimidated. We did our work pursuant to Department policy. We followed the facts, and we followed the law. And that process resulted in proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed serious crimes. I’m not going to pretend that didn’t happen because he’s threatening me.” Rep. Balint asked: “And, Mr. Smith, do you believe that President Trump’s Department of Justice will find some way to indict you?” Special Counsel Smith affirmed: “I believe they will do everything in their power to do that, because they’ve been ordered to by the President.” 
   
• In response to a question from Rep. Cohen, Special Counsel Smith reminded the Committee of Trump’s efforts to intimidate and threaten witnesses during the investigation: “I had a duty to protect witnesses in this investigation. That risk that threat to witnesses was only confirmed when we went forward in this case. Donald Trump suggested that one witness should be put to death and then also issued a statement to the effect of, if you come after me, I'm coming after you. And in my mind, I can't think of a more direct threat to witnesses and individuals involved in that proceeding.”

Republicans are trying to smear Jack Smith and prevent the Volume II report from ever seeing the light of day because his evidence is humiliating to Donald Trump. 

• Ranking Member Raskin said: “You are gagged by an absurd judicial order rendered faithfully by Trump’s most servile and sycophantic appointee to the federal bench, Judge Aileen Cannon. This order not only blocks release of Volume II of your report, which is unprecedented about the classified documents scam, it also gags you from discussing the report or its contents with us, with America, so we don’t know what’s in it. But it must be pretty devastating because Donald Trump is desperate to keep Mr. Smith or any other DOJ official from ever releasing it to Congress and to the American people.” 
   
• Rep. Becca Balint exposed Judge Aileen Cannon’s baseless withholding of the Volume II report: “When Judge Cannon issued that gag order, she cited pending cases against Trump’s co-defendants. Is that correct?” Special Counsel Smith confirmed: “That’s my recollection.” Rep. Balint asked: “Are those cases still pending?” Special Counsel Smith said: “No they’re not.” Rep. Balint said: “So there is no reason, from where I sit for this important information to be not made public at this point.” 
   
• Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon said: “As people do hear from you, I think they’re going to better understand why the White House and Congressional Republicans are trying to rewrite history and seeking to discredit you and your investigation: so that they can help the President avoid accountability for his crimes against the American people.”