DEC 17, 2025 AT 11:17 AM EST
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Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door interview Wednesday that his investigative team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of Smith’s opening statement obtained by The Associated Press.
Smith testified for more than three hours, answering questions about his investigations into Trump, including the probe into election interference leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Why It Matters
Former Justice Department told lawmakers in a closed-door interview Wednesday that his investigative team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President criminally conspired to overturn the results of the , according to portions of Smith’s opening statement obtained by The Associated Press.
Smith testified for more than three hours, answering questions about his investigations into Trump, including the probe into election interference leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The private deposition before the House Judiciary Committee marked Smith’s first opportunity to answer lawmakers’ questions, though behind closed doors, about two investigations into Trump that resulted in criminal charges later abandoned between Trump’s first and second terms.
Smith was subpoenaed earlier this month to provide testimony and documents as part of a Republican-led investigation into the probes conducted during the Biden administration. He complied with the subpoena despite having volunteered more than a month earlier to testify publicly before the committee, an offer Smith’s attorneys said Republicans declined.
What To Know
Smith also said investigators amassed “powerful evidence” that Trump broke the law by retaining classified documents from his first term at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and by obstructing government efforts to recover the records.
“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith said. “We took actions based on what the facts and the law required — the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor.”
Smith added that he would have pursued the same course regardless of party affiliation, saying he would prosecute a former president “based on the same facts today … whether the president was a Republican or Democrat.”
Trump told reporters at the White House that he favored a public hearing for Smith, saying, “I’d rather see him testify publicly. There’s no way he can answer the questions.”
Smith wanted to appear publicly and Democrats say there’s a reason Republicans are keeping his deposition private.
“It would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities of January the 6th,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the panel.
Democrats are demanding that Smith’s testimony be made public, along with his full report on the investigation.
“The American people should hear for themselves,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY.
Smith was expected to discuss both investigations but will not respond to questions involving grand jury material, which is protected by law, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. He is also expected to address what he considers Republican mischaracterizations of his work, including criticism of his team’s review of cellphone records belonging to some GOP lawmakers.
Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee Justice Department investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Charges were filed in both cases.
Smith later abandoned the prosecutions after Trump was elected president again last year, citing long-standing Justice Department opinions barring the indictment of a sitting president.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a set of internal FBI emails Tuesday related to the August 2022 search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
One email, written weeks before the search, said the FBI’s Washington field office did not at that time believe there was probable cause to search the property.
Republicans pointed to the emails as evidence that the Biden administration’s Justice Department improperly targeted Trump. However, the disclosures did not include subsequent developments in the investigation. Agents who later conducted the search reported finding boxes of classified documents, including some marked top secret, at the Florida property. The former head of the Washington field office has also testified that by the time the warrant was executed, the FBI believed probable cause existed to carry out the search.
What People Are Saying
The committee chairman, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, told reporters, “I think we’ve learned some interesting things.” He declined to discuss what was being said in the room, but reiterated his position about the investigations. “It’s political,” he added,
Smith attorney Lanny Breuer told reporters Wednesday, “Testifying before this committee, Jack is showing tremendous courage in light of the remarkable and unprecedented retribution campaign against him by this administration and this White House. Let’s be clear: Jack Smith, a career prosecutor, conducted this investigation based on the facts and based on the law and nothing more.”
John Dowd, a former lawyer for President Donald Trump, wrote in an MS Now opinion article that former special counsel Jack Smith “should be celebrated” ahead of Smith’s scheduled closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee: “Republicans are depriving the American people of the opportunity to hear from a career prosecutor who investigated serious allegations that President Donald Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election and unlawfully retained classified documents.”
What Happens Next
Republicans who control Congress have sought interviews with members of Smith’s investigative team. In recent weeks, they have focused on disclosures that prosecutors reviewed phone records of certain GOP lawmakers from around Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop certification of Biden’s victory. The records showed only incoming and outgoing numbers and call duration, not call content.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Updates: 12/17/25, 12:51 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Updates: 12/17/25, 2:48 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Updates: 12/17/25, 6:20 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Updates: 12/17/25, 7:21 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information.