Smith: Investigators developed ‘proof beyond reasonable doubt’ against Trump

BY ERIC TUCKER AND LISA MASCARO

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON – Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closeddoor interview Wednesday that his team of investigators “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump had criminally conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to portions of his opening statement obtained by The Associated Press.

Smith also said investigators had accrued “powerful evidence” Trump broke the law by hoarding classified documents from his first term as president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and by obstructing government efforts to recover the records.

He said that if asked whether he would “prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat.”

The day-long deposition before the House Judiciary Committee gave lawmakers of both parties their first chance, albeit in private, to question Smith for hours about investigations into Trump that resulted in criminal cases between the Republican president’s first and second terms. Smith was subpoenaed by the Republican- led committee for testimony and documents as part of a GOP investigation into the Trump inquiries during the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

The former special counsel cooperated with the congressional demand, though his lawyers noted that he had volunteered more than a month before the subpoena was issued to answer questions publicly before the committee – an overture they said was rebuffed by Republicans. Trump had told reporters that he supported the idea of an open hearing.

Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee Justice Department investigations into Trump’s efforts to reverse his 2020 loss to Biden and Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Smith’s team filed charges in both investigations but abandoned the cases after Trump was elected to the White House last year, citing Justice Department legal opinions that say a sitting president cannot be indicted.

Multiple prior Justice Department special counsels, including Robert Mueller, have testified publicly but Smith was summoned for just a private interview. Several Democrats who emerged from Smith’s interview said they could understand why Republicans did not want an open hearing based on the damaging testimony about Trump they said Smith offered.

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said the Republican majority “made an excellent decision” in not allowing Smith to testify publicly “because had he done so, it would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities” of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Democrats are demanding that Smith’s testimony be made public, along with his full report on the investigation. A volume on the classified documents investigation has yet to be released.

“The American people should hear for themselves,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.

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 said in the room, but reiterated his position about the investigations.

“It’s political,” he said. Smith’s interview unfolded against the backdrop of a broader retribution campaign by the Trump administration against former officials involved in investigating Trump and his allies. The Office of Special Counsel, an independent political watchdog, said in August that it was investigating Smith, and the White House issued a presidential memorandum this year aimed at suspending security clearances of lawyers at the law firm that provided legal services to Smith.

The deposition also comes as Republicans in Congress, aided by current FBI leadership, look to discredit the investigations into Trump through the release of emails and other documents that sometimes lack complete context.

In recent weeks, they have seized on revelations that Smith’s team, as part of its investigation, had analyzed the phone records of select GOP lawmakers from a several-day period around the Capitol insurrection, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the building to try to halt the certification of Trump’s election loss to Biden.

The phone records reviewed by prosecutors included information about the incoming and outgoing phone numbers and the length of the call but not the contents of the conversations. Smith told lawmakers Wednesday that the records were properly subpoenaed, “were relevant to complete a comprehensive investigation” and were related to calls Trump made urging lawmakers to delay certification of the election.