Former Special Counsel Jack Smith went scorched-earth against Donald Trump and indicated he had no regrets in his first public testimony about his criminal investigation into the president.
“I want to be clear, I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” Smith said in his opening statement.
He said that Trump “engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.”
Smith also said the president “illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club and repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”
He specifically noted that “highly sensitive national security information” was held in a bathroom and ballroom.
The longtime prosecutor, who Trump has attacked as “deranged” for his investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of classified documents, appeared publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday for the first time.
Smith said if asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, he would do so regardless of the president’s party.
“No one should be above the law in this country. The law requires that he be held to account,” Smith said.
The former special counsel began his remarks by saying he loved his country and believed deeply in the “core principles upon which it was founded.” He said he was not a politician and has no partisan loyalties.
“My career has been dedicated to serving our country by upholding the rule of law,” Smith said.
He said he made his decision to charge Trump regardless of his political associations and activities because “the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold.”
Smith previously appeared before a deposition behind closed doors last month. House Republicans released the transcript of it on New Year’s Eve.
Thursday’s appearance was his first opportunity to testify publicly on his probes.
Smith was appointed special counsel in November 2022 to oversee the investigations into Trump. The then-former president was indicted in the classified documents case the following June. He was indicted in the 2020 election interference case in August 2023.
However, Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the 2024 election and was preparing to return to office for a second term.
On Thursday, Smith issued a stark warning that he has seen how the rule of law can “erode.
“My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing,” Smith said.
