Ranking Member Raskin Urges Chairman Jordan to Accept Former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Offer to Testify Publicly Before Congress

Washington, D.C. (October 23, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Chairman Jim Jordan calling on him to accept former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s offer to testify publicly before Congress regarding his investigations into President Donald Trump’s criminal wrongdoing.

“Last week, I applauded your call for transparency about Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into how President Trump knowingly retained hundreds of highly classified records at his Mar-a-Lago club and then defied subpoenas, obstructed law enforcement, actively hid evidence, and lied about his continuing retention of those records. I commended you for apparently joining us in demanding the full release of Mr. Smith’s report—paid for by American taxpayers—as well as all accompanying records which the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been desperately concealing. I am now calling on you to accept Mr. Smith’s offer to testify at a public hearing so the American people can all hear directly from him on the matters we will be questioning him about,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Former Special Counsel Smith led two major investigations into President Trump’s criminal wrongdoing: one into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and another into his deliberate retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and obstruction of justice to cover up his offense. 

Chairman Jordan invited Mr. Smith to appear for a secret, closed-door transcribed interview to answer the Committee’s questions, after leveling significant allegations against Mr. Smith and his team in public. Mr. Smith has made clear that he is prepared to address those allegations publicly. 

Every modern Special Counsel who investigated a sitting or former president—including John Durham, Robert Mueller, Kenneth Starr, and Robert Hur—has publicly testified before Congress to answer questions about their findings. Judiciary Republicans’ refusal to allow Smith to testify publicly comes as the DOJ continues to withhold the full Special Counsel report on Trump’s illegal retention of classified documents from the American people, whose tax dollars funded this report.

“I can think of no reason to deny the American people the opportunity to hear his testimony, under oath and with questioning from Members of both parties, and to let all Americans judge for themselves the integrity of Mr. Smith’s investigations. There is no reason his appearance should be in the shadows of a backroom and subject to the usual tiresome partisan tactics of leak-and-distort,” concluded Ranking Member Raskin.

Click here to read the letter.