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Jack Smith defends the Trump cases before the Senate
Washington, District of ColumbiaPublished 30 Sep 2026
United States Department of Justice / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · source
Former special counsel Jack Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee he would not be silenced and stood by the charges against President Trump. Republicans called the prosecutions an abuse of power.
On Sept. 29, 2026, Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his dismissed federal cases against President Donald Trump. Smith said the work produced proof beyond a reasonable doubt of serious crimes and that he would bring the same charges against a former president of either party. He said he would not be silenced by threats of prosecution. Chairman Chuck Grassley and other Republicans said the probes were a corrupt abuse, including subpoenas for lawmakers’ phone records. Sen. Eric Schmitt accused Smith of perjury over an Atlanta Hawks game; Smith said he had been at an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland.
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Disputed opinions
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Ex-Trump prosecutor Smith forcefully defends investigations as Republicans assail his team’s tactics
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Republicans used the hearing to portray Jack Smith as a political operative and the prosecutions as politicized.
Democrats defended Jack Smith, drew out the basis for the cases, and objected to firings of prosecutors.
Jack Smith said he did not remember going to Atlanta.
Jack Smith’s testimony did not appease his Republican critics.
Jack Smith said such subpoenas are common and were needed to understand what he called the scope of the conspiracy.
The hearing focused heavily on subpoenas for lawmakers’ phone records.
Jack Smith said he stands by his testimony to the House.
There is no legal prohibition on obtaining toll records of members of Congress.
Jack Smith said he consulted the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section.
Democrats noted that the first Trump administration’s Justice Department had sought records of lawmakers from their party.
Jack Smith said the decision to prosecute Donald Trump was his own.
Republicans sought to cast the prosecutions as a political fishing expedition and accused Jack Smith of bending procedures.
John Kennedy asked whether the Biden White House instructed the Justice Department to prosecute Donald Trump.
Chuck Grassley said the Smith election case was not just about Donald Trump.
Jack Smith said he and his team found criminal conduct.
John Kennedy asked Jack Smith whether he believed in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny.
Opinion
Jack Smith said firings on his team stripped crucial expertise and made the country less safe.
Republican lawmakers treat the toll-record subpoenas as proof of overreach by the Biden Justice Department.
Dick Durbin accused Republicans of baseless conspiracy theories meant to whitewash Donald Trump’s 2020 loss and the Capitol attack.
Jack Smith clashes with senators over Trump probes, says he will not be silenced
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Eric Schmitt suggested, with no evidence, that Jack Smith made a secret trip to Atlanta to meet Fani T.
Donald Trump has repeatedly said Jack Smith should face prosecution.
Cory Booker marveled at how relentless the Republicans’ message was.
Democrats say Donald Trump plainly committed indictable offenses.
Jack Smith said the administration will do everything in its power to build a case against him and that it has no legitimate basis.
Republican lawmakers questioned Jack Smith about his wife’s past support for Barack Obama.
Justice Department officials said they are reviewing the evidence and have not decided whether to seek an indictment of Jack Smith.
Jack Smith said he is extremely proud to have worked with his former team.
Jack Smith spent months seeking a public hearing to defend his conclusion that Donald Trump committed felonies.
Jack Smith forcefully defended his team’s investigative methods.
Jack Smith said the records were centrally relevant to Donald Trump’s criminal intent.
Jack Smith said secrecy rules bar him from answering many questions about grand jury material.
Jack Smith has said Donald Trump’s actions before certification created the need for those records.
Ted Cruz described the subpoenas as a fishing expedition to investigate Republicans broadly.
Jack Smith told Ted Cruz that it is not a crime to be a Republican.
Some of the subpoenas also showed donations from Trump allies.
Opinion
Ted Cruz said Jack Smith brought the Department of Justice into disrepute.
Cory Booker called the hearing gaslighting and said Republicans were putting investigators on trial instead of the conduct they should investigate.
With few new insights on offer, the hearing became a public tongue-lashing by Jack Smith’s critics.
Democrats say Donald Trump has turned the Justice Department into a cudgel against perceived political foes.
Jack Smith said his former staff were targeted and fired illegally and that the Justice Department turned their lives upside down.
Amy Klobuchar deflated Eric Schmitt’s “gotcha” moment.
Donald Trump and his allies say Jack Smith and other prosecutors weaponized law enforcement against them.
Donald Trump and his allies say those prosecutors deserve to be punished.
Dick Durbin said the attacks on Jack Smith are petty, personal, and political.
Jack Smith said people are threatened with prosecution because they are seen as having opposed the president.
Jack Smith said predetermined outcomes are taking precedence over the Justice Department’s norms.
Ted Cruz asked Jack Smith whether it is a crime to be a Republican.
Jack Smith defends Trump probes in Senate hearing filled with GOP insults
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Jack Smith appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee as the Justice Department moved to target officials from his investigation of Donald Trump’s 2020 loss and the Jan. 6 attack.
That probe covered his handling of classified documents after he left office in January 2021.
Eric Schmitt tried to imply Jack Smith had been in contact with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during her state case against Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has said he did nothing wrong.
Amy Klobuchar said Eric Schmitt owed Jack Smith an apology.
Jack Smith has said he believes a jury would have convicted Donald Trump in the 2020 election case if it had gone to trial.
Jack Smith said the idea that the Biden administration or other political actors directed his decisions is laughable.
Jack Smith’s final report said Donald Trump inspired supporters to commit physical violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Jack Smith, who has prosecuted Republicans and Democrats, has denied that he politically targeted Republicans.
Donald Trump pleaded not guilty in the Jan. 6 case and called his rally remarks that day totally appropriate.
Donald Trump later called Jan. 6 defendants hostages and granted them mass clemency when he returned to office.
Joe diGenova led the grand-conspiracy investigation until he left the Justice Department this month.
In earlier House testimony, Jack Smith said he would not be intimidated and predicted the administration would try to bring a criminal case against him.
That review reaches outside the usual five-year statute of limitations for most federal crimes.
Cory Booker said officers who worked the cases were fired, vilified, and harassed.
Jack Smith’s lawyers said he gave truthful, responsive answers.
Joe diGenova told NBC News that lanes got crossed in his final days.
Former federal prosecutors told NBC News the Justice Department would have a hard time bringing a perjury case against Jack Smith.
Opinion
Cory Booker said Donald Trump and his allies are still pushing a false claim that Trump is the victim.
Jack Smith’s lawyers called Jim Jordan’s referral a chilling attempt to weaponize the justice system against a career prosecutor.
Senate Republicans rip ‘dirtbag’ Jack Smith over Trump investigations: ‘You make me want to throw up in my mouth’
Published 29 Sep 2026 accessed 30 Sep 2026
Facts
Jack Smith faced Senate Judiciary Republicans who accused him of illegally targeting President Trump and GOP lawmakers.
Eric Schmitt quoted a Stalin-era secret-police line, “Show me the man, I’ll show you the crime,” and said Jack Smith may think he is the hero.
Amy Klobuchar demanded that Eric Schmitt’s staff put the basketball display back up.
Josh Hawley accused Jack Smith of perjury in House testimony when Smith said he could not recall seeking a warrant for lawmakers’ text messages.
John Kennedy pressed Jack Smith about a documentary Smith’s wife made about Michelle Obama.
A Florida federal judge threw out the Mar-a-Lago case, ruling Merrick Garland’s appointment of Jack Smith was illegal.
Chuck Grassley said Jack Smith’s team left a classified facility open and caused a security violation while prosecuting Donald Trump over classified information.
The two cases brought 41 felony counts against Donald Trump.
Dick Durbin recalled Jan. 6, 2021, as a Capitol riot by violent insurrectionists at the direction of the president.
Dick Durbin said Jack Smith and nonpartisan career prosecutors had the experience for the assignment.
Opinion
Ted Cruz accused Jack Smith of partisanship and said Smith likely had a pink hat at home from the 2017 Women’s March.