House Republicans Call for Criminal Investigation into Former Special Counsel Jack Smith

House Republicans are pressing the Justice Department to initiate a criminal investigation against former special counsel Jack Smith. They accuse Smith of providing false statements last year regarding his efforts to obtain lawmakers’ phone records.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, communicated to the DOJ, asserting that Smith “seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements” during his testimony under oath last December. This criminal referral represents a continued effort by the Trump administration and its congressional allies to target individuals who previously investigated Trump.

The Justice Department has also attempted to pursue criminal cases against former FBI Director Jim Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Smith has frequently been criticized by Trump on social media. Following the news of the referral, Trump posted “Justice at last???” early Thursday morning.

Smith, who led the Justice Department’s public integrity unit, oversaw two criminal investigations into Trump. Grand juries indicted Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election and for not returning classified materials from Mar-a-Lago. Both cases ended without trial, partly due to Trump’s 2024 election win, which brought him back to the White House.

Smith’s legal team responded to Jordan and the DOJ with a letter asserting that Smith provided “truthful, responsive answers” to Congress. Lawyers Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski argued that the referral “reflects a chilling eagerness to weaponize the justice system by attacking a career, nonpartisan public servant who faithfully and fearlessly performed his duties by following the facts and the law.”

Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, criticized the referral, suggesting it would be “laughed out” in federal court. He stated, “This referral deliberately distorts and misstates the facts, including what questions the Republicans actually asked at Mr. Smith’s interview.” Raskin claimed that Smith couldn’t have lied, as Republican Members never asked the pertinent question underlying their theory.

The dispute centers on subpoenas issued by Smith’s prosecution team for phone records of lawmakers in contact with top White House officials and allies about six years ago. Smith also obtained text messages from the National Archives from White House phones, capturing exchanges between aides and lawmakers. According to Smith’s lawyers, Republicans in Congress never directly asked about this, yet they now seek to penalize him for not “proactively disclosing that.”