Former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith will testify before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday and tell Congress President Donald Trump was prosecuted because he “wilfully broke the very laws he swore to uphold.”
Smith, 56, investigated Trump over his alleged attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election and over his alleged retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office, only for the cases to be dismissed once the Republican returned to power.
The veteran lawyer previously testified before the committee during an eight-hour session held behind closed doors on December 17.
He then painted a damning portrait of Trump’s conduct and claimed he would have secured convictions had his work reached its natural conclusion – after which he requested a public forum at which to defend his approach.
In his opening statement at Thursday’s session – the text of which was published in advance – Smith denies that he has any “partisan loyalties” and reiterates his belief that a prosecutor’s role is to “do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons.”
“President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he wilfully broke the very laws that he took an oath to uphold,” he will tell lawmakers.
“Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.”
Turning to the classified files, Smith will accuse the president of repeatedly trying “to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” Smith will say, adding that his appearance is intended to dispel “false and misleading narratives” and to express the sorrow and anger he feels about Trump seeking “revenge” against his staff.
The president unceremoniously fired DOJ officials who had worked on Smith’s investigations last January and subsequently threatened five law firms with connections to Democrats.
Ahead of his appearance, Smith’s legal team told CNN that he is “not afraid” of further antagonising a commander-in-chief he has claimed is motivated by “retribution.”
On Tuesday, Trump demanded a federal judge block the DOJ from releasing Smith’s final report on the classified documents affair, filing a motion arguing that its release would “irreparably harm” the president and his former co-defendants because it was “inherently biased.”
“The court has already rightly determined that Smith was an unconstitutionally appointed and funded officer who could not, and did not, lawfully exercise executive power,” attorneys wrote.
Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon – the same Trump-appointed justice who dismissed the case against the president in 2024, concluding the special counsel’s appointment had been unconstitutional – has previously blocked the DOJ from sharing a redacted version with members of Congress.
That ensured Smith’s report would not see the light of day during Trump’s first months back in office. She will now decide whether it can ever be released.
The special counsel’s account of his other investigation into the president, concerning his role in the Capitol riot of January 6 2021, was released the week before the president returned to office, however.
Trump wasted no time in deriding the findings contained in his 174-page report as “fake” on Truth Social. He has previously slammed Smith as a “deranged lamebrain prosecutor”.
“[He was] was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his ‘boss,’ Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another ‘Report”’ based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were,” Trump posted days before his return to office last year.
