A list of a dozen “essential facts about former Special Counsel Jack Smith” was published by House Judiciary Republicans Thursday, prior to Smith’s testimony before the committee regarding his efforts to convict President Donald Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election.
“There are 12 essential facts about former Special Counsel Jack Smith, his investigation, and what he has testified to,” House Judiciary Republicans wrote in a social media post warning that Americans need to know that, regarding his charges against Trump claiming he tried to overturn the 2020 election, Smith:
- Defied precedent and presumption of innocence.
- Determined Trump was guilty by association.
- Claimed he was deeply involved in details of the investigation, but could not recall basic steps taken during the investigation.
- Conceded that he approved of several actions and procedural moves that were highly irregular.
- Approved toll record subpoenas for members of Congress without regard for whether the private communications were constitutionally protected.
- Sought the private toll records of Republican Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was speaker of the House at the time, to corroborate evidence his office already possessed.
- Confirmed that his prosecutors did not tell judges signing gag orders for the subpoenas that the Special Counsel's Office was seeking records from members of Congress.
- Singled out President Trump, and only President Trump, in his electors case, setting aside other targets and focusing his efforts on seeking an indictment of President Trump in advance of the election.
- Wanted to prevent President Trump from commenting on the case, despite being unable to articulate a specific harm concretely traceable to anything President Trump said about the case.
- Testified that partisan January 6th Select Committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony was unreliable and contradicted by other witnesses with better knowledge.
- Declined to initiate an independent investigation into serious allegations that his top aide, Jay Bratt, threatened a defense counsel to coerce his cooperation with the prosecution.
- Testified that he directed his team to obtain the partisan January 6th Select Committee's evidence gathered during its politically-motivated inquiry.
“It was always about politics. And, in order to get President Trump, they were willing to do just about anything,” Chairman Jordan said in his opening statement at Thursday’s hearing, in which he recalled the legacy of efforts to get Trump leading up to, and including, illegitimately-appointed Special Counsel Smith’s extraordinary, irregular and dubious maneuvers.
From the timing of his appointment (three days after Trump announced his candidacy in 2022) and recruitment of anti-Trump cohorts to his desire to cloak his deeds and failure to be confirmed by the Senate (as required by law), Jack Smith’s legacy as special counsel should be reprehensible to all Americans, Chairman Jordan said.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) January 22, 2026
