Live updates: Jack Smith testifies before House panel on Trump investigations

Shortly after returning to the witness table, Smith said prosecutions based on politics would “weaken the rule of law” during questioning from Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY).

The former special counsel who handled the two criminal cases against Trump rejected claims that partisan motives drove those cases and said party affiliation “played no role” in his charging decisions.

Pressed on whether politics influenced the prosecutions against Trump, Smith responded that it “did not” and said he has pursued cases against both Republicans and Democrats throughout his Justice Department career.

Smith added that when prosecutors allow political considerations to guide their decisions, it undermines the government’s ability to pursue corruption cases and erodes public confidence in the justice system.

The House unanimously passed an amendment Thursday to repeal the “Arctic Frost” provision to the last round of funding bills, meaning sitting senators will not be able to sue over being investigated by Smith as part of his Jan. 6 investigation.

The development comes as Smith testifies on that investigation and other cases before the House Judiciary Committee.

Smith was pressed by Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) on his move to subpoena multiple GOP lawmakers’ phone records and other personal information as part of the Arctic Frost investigation. Smith replied that doing so was “common practice.”

Jack Smith’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee has resumed, after a brief pause for representatives to cast votes on the House floor.

Republicans on the committee have been accusing Smith of stretching the law in his investigations against President Donald Trump and his allies. Democrats have been defending Smith as a defender of the rule of law.

The hearing is now in recess, as lawmakers take a break for brief House votes.

As expected, Smith has faced grueling scrutiny thus far from Republicans such as House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), while receiving praise from Democrats on the Judiciary Committee.

Kiley was the first Republican to question Smith and pressed him on whether it was fair to launch an investigation into Trump while he was a leading candidate for president, calling it an “extraordinary circumstance.” Kiley hails from a competitive seat in California and is one of the lawmakers whose district was redrawn last year.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) showered Smith with affirmations.

“You are in the fight for justice and the rule of law,” the Democrat told the former special counsel.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) pressed Smith on whether he believed a story a key witness in the Democratic-led select committee’s investigation on Jan. 6 told lawmakers.

Jordan condemned Smith for considering using Cassidy Hutchinson as a witness in his investigation, after a House GOP Jan. 6 report determined Hutchinson’s account of Trump on that day was not corroborated by other key witnesses. Smith declined to say whether his office ever confirmed Hutchinson’s story, despite repeated questioning from Jordan.

“Someone the whole country knows wasn’t telling the truth, and you were still considering putting her on the witness stand, because you had to get President Trump,” Jordan said.

Hutchinson testified under oath before the Jan. 6 committee that she heard Trump lunged for the wheel of the presidential SUV and got into a physical altercation with his lead Secret Service agent after he was instructed he could not go to the rally at the Capitol on Jan. 6 to join his supporters. White House employees did not corroborate her story.

Under questioning from Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA), Smith was pressed on a string of court setbacks in his prosecutions of Trump, including a narrowed gag order and rejected trial requests.

Kiley cited reversals and criticism from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, district courts, DOJ leadership, and, ultimately, the Supreme Court, asking whether Smith believed he made mistakes.

Smith declined to concede any substantive errors.

His sole regret, he said, was “not expressing enough appreciation” for his staff.

Several police officers who responded to the events on Jan. 6, 2021, attended the hearing to watch Smith testify publicly about several of his investigations, including one into Trump’s involvement in Jan. 6.

Michael Fanone, Daniel Hodges, Aquilino Gonell, and Harry Dunn were present for Smith’s questioning by the House Judiciary Committee.

Smith is expected to face questions regarding his office’s controversial efforts to obtain phone records from multiple leading Republican lawmakers, as part of the Jan. 6-related Arctic Frost investigation.

Smith opened his public testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, saying he stands on his decisions and is testifying to correct “false and misleading narratives.”

“I made my decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith said. “President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold.”

“Grand juries in two separate districts reached this conclusion based on his actions, as alleged in the indictments they returned. Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power,” he continued.

Smith’s testimony is a high-profile appearance that will reopen debate over his now-dismissed criminal cases against Trump, placing him under scrutiny he has largely avoided while the prosecutions have been active. Smith will continue to defend his conclusion that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

“My career has been dedicated to serving our country by upholding the rule of law,” Smith said. “Throughout my public service, my approach has always been the same. Follow the facts and the law without fear or favor.”

Smith said Trump continued to keep documents that contained “highly sensitive national security information” at Mar-a-Lago after he left office.

Smith began his opening statement to lawmakers on Thursday morning, thanking the House Judiciary Committee for inviting him to speak.

“My career has been dedicated to serving our country by upholding the rule of law,” he said.

Republicans have accused Smith of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from using their offices for partisan purposes, in his investigations during his tenure at the Justice Department targeting Trump.

Smith testifies before the House Judiciary Committee to defend his conclusion that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith argues his team assembled “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” and his appearance in court reopens debate over his now-dismissed criminal cases against the president. The hearing begins at 10 a.m.

At a guest appearance during a White House press briefing on Tuesday, Trump called Smith “deranged” and a “sick son of a bitch.”

“They gave me the worst of the worst,” Trump said. “And here I am. How did that happen?”

The GOP House Judiciary X account posted a compilation video summarizing the debate over Smith’s criminal cases against Trump regarding the 2020 election.

The video is critical of Smith as it aims to provide viewers with background on who he is.

Former special counsel Jack Smith is set to testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, a high-profile appearance that will reopen debate over his now-dismissed criminal cases against President Donald Trump, placing Smith under sustained scrutiny he largely avoided while the prosecutions were active.

The hearing, beginning at 10 a.m., will allow Smith to again defend his conclusion that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election and that his team assembled what he described as “proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” Republicans, meanwhile, are preparing to use the forum to confront Smith directly over investigations they have long characterized as politically driven and constitutionally overreaching.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said the hearing is meant to expose what he views as the culmination of a decadelong campaign to target Trump through the justice system.

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