Trump Prosecutor Breaks Silence

Former special counsel Jack Smith sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and refused to walk back the Trump cases. Sworn in under the glare of a Republican majority, he said he would bring the same charges again.

“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump,” he said. “I made these decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.” He added that his office “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”

Chairman Chuck Grassley called the operation a “partisan weapon that broke the rules, lied to the court, and engaged in bad faith.” He said it “undermined the rule of law and threatened our very political institutions.” Smith’s team brought 41 felony counts across the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the 2020 election case. A Florida judge tossed the documents indictment as an unlawful appointment. The election case died when Trump returned to office.

Republicans spent the day on process and motive. Smith acknowledged his team obtained National Archives text records that “happened to have contacts with members of Congress in it.” Sen. Josh Hawley accused him of perjury for earlier saying he could not recall seeking a warrant for lawmakers’ messages.

Sen. Eric Schmitt tried to place Smith in Atlanta the day after Fani Willis and Nathan Wade’s affair became public, then walked into a factual hole when the trip was a Maryland-Iowa women’s basketball game, not a sit-down with Willis. Schmitt still unloaded. “You may think you’re a hero in this story, but let me tell you something. You’re the villain.” He called Smith a “total dirtbag.”

Sen. John Kennedy went shorter. “You make me want to throw up in my mouth.” Sen. Ted Cruz needled him as a partisan who probably owned protest gear from 2017. Ranking Democrat Dick Durbin called the attacks “petty, personal, and political” and “a smokescreen,” pointing back to Jan. 6, “when this cathedral of democracy was overrun by violent insurrectionists at the direction of the president.”

Smith’s closing posture was the same as his opening. “If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”

That is the silence breaking. He did not apologize. He did not concede a political hunt. He sat in the chair, took the names, and said the evidence still justified the charges.