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Former US special counsel rejects claims that his probes improperly targeted Republicans and conservative groups.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended his investigations of President Donald Trump in a United States Senate hearing, though Republican lawmakers accused him of abusing his authority.
On Tuesday, Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee that his investigations followed Justice Department policy and were based on evidence.
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He rejected accusations that political considerations influenced his decision to bring criminal charges against Trump, the first US president ever to be indicted.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation,” Smith said.
A former war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Smith was appointed special counsel in 2022 to independently investigate allegations about Trump’s behaviour after the end of his first term as president.
In 2023, Smith ultimately brought two criminal indictments against Trump: one for his alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election and a second for his handling of classified documents while out of office.
Separately, two further criminal indictments were brought against Trump. One, in New York, accused Trump of falsifying business records to conceal unflattering information during his 2016 presidential campaign.
A second, in Georgia, also concerned allegations that Trump and his allies sought to overturn the 2020 election results.
Only one case – the New York indictment – was brought to trial, resulting in felony convictions. The rest were dropped after Trump was re-elected in 2024.
Smith himself resigned shortly before Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025. The Justice Department has a policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.
Trump has denied all the charges against him and has accused Smith and former President Joe Biden of orchestrating a political “witch-hunt” against him.
Republicans focused much of Tuesday’s hearing on Smith’s investigative methods, including subpoenas that obtained phone records associated with members of Congress and financial information from Republican donors and organisations.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley accused Smith’s team of using its investigations to “map out and target the entire Republican Party”.
Smith, however, maintained that his office had a duty to pursue evidence relevant to the investigation.
He also defended obtaining phone records from lawmakers. He said the records helped corroborate evidence that Trump and his allies contacted members of Congress as they sought to delay certification of the 2020 election results.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, whose records were among those sought, pressed Smith about why lawmakers were not notified of the subpoenas. Smith said prosecutors feared Trump and his associates could destroy evidence or interfere with the investigation if the subpoenas were disclosed.
“Is it a crime to be a Republican?” Cruz asked.
“Absolutely not,” Smith said.
Smith added that his office consulted the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section before obtaining the records.
The information Smith sought reveals the time and duration of the telephone calls but not their content. Critics have pointed out that there was no law against seeking such records during the course of Smith’s investigation.
During his testimony, Smith not only defended his investigative decisions but also accused the Trump administration of retaliating against the prosecutors and agents who worked on the two cases.
He argued that members of his former team had been fired for “doing their jobs”. Those firings have prompted legal challenges.
In March, three former agents with the FBI who investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election filed a class-action lawsuit alleging they were illegally terminated as part of a “retribution campaign”. The lawsuit seeks their reinstatement.
Smith, who said Trump has threatened him with jail, framed the scrutiny of his work as part of a broader challenge to the independence of the Justice Department.
“As I appear before you today, it is my belief that the rule of law faces challenges unlike any we have experienced in our lifetime,” Smith said. “I will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution from the president or others.”
