Jack Smith Defends Subpoena of Republicans’ Phone Records in First Public Appearance Before Congress

Appearing before Congress in a public setting for the first time on Thursday, former Special Counsel Jack Smith offered a vigorous defense of his decision to subpoena the phone records of Republican lawmakers as part of his investigation into President Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

As part of his investigation, Smith subpoenaed service providers for the phone records of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) and a group of Republican Senators. The toll records Smith acquired allowed him to see who the lawmakers were calling and who called them over a four-day period surrounding the January 6 Capitol riot, but not the content of those calls.

“We wanted to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter that was assigned to me including attempts to interfere with a lawful transfer of power,” Smith said in response to friendly questioning from Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

“The conspiracy that we were investigating, it was relevant to get toll records to understand the scope of that conspiracy, who they were seeking to coerce, who they were seeking to influence, who was seeking to help them.”

Republicans on the committee repeatedly pressed Smith on his decision to not only subpoena the toll records, but to seek non-disclosure orders from federal judges which barred the providers — AT&T and Verizon — from disclosing to lawmakers that their records had been handed over.

“Democrats have been going after President Trump for ten years. For a decade. The country should never, ever forget what they did,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, whose phone records were subpoenaed as part of the Biden Justice Department “Arctic Frost” investigation that led to Smith’s election-interference case.

“It was always about politics,” Jordan said of Smith’s prosecutorial decisions. “The good news is, the American people saw through it,” Jordan added.

Smith argued that the non-disclosure orders were necessary to prevent obstruction of justice by Trump and other co-conspirators. He referenced the apparent targeting of specific election workers during the Trump campaign’s push to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in arguing that Trump and his allies may have acted to impede his investigation if made aware of the subpoenas.

The DOJ has since changed its policy to require that lawmakers be informed if their phone records are subpoenaed as part of an investigation.

Republican members also pressed Smith on internal DOJ emails in which department officials acknowledge that the subpoenas posed some litigation risk in light of the speech and debate clause that protects lawmakers from liability related to their speech. Smith responded by pointing out that the DOJ Public Integrity Section ultimately decided to approve the subpoenas despite the risk.

Smith dismissed Republican claims that the subpoenas were tantamount to spying, casting them instead as a standard investigative tool.

Several of the lawmakers subject to Smith’s subpoenas amplified Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump continues to reiterate those falsehoods and downplay the January 6 riot they inspired. None of the GOP lawmakers who were subpoenaed were officially named as targets of Smith’s criminal investigation.

Alongside Jordan, Senators Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.) have spearheaded congressional oversight of Smith’s work on the Trump cases. FBI Director Kash Patel has cooperated with lawmakers’ oversight requests, as have Verizon and AT&T.

Ever defiant, Smith strongly defended his work as special counsel and cast himself as a non-partisan prosecutor whose duty was to uphold the rule of law. Right off the bat, Smith said he wanted to “correct false and misleading narratives” being perpetrated by Republican critics.

“During my tenure as special counsel we followed Justice Department policies, we observed legal requirements, and took actions based on facts and the law,” Smith said. “I made my decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election. President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law.”

During the hearing, President Trump praised Republican lawmakers for confronting Smith and hinted that Attorney General Pam Bondi might investigate Smith’s actions.

“Deranged Jack Smith is being DECIMATED before Congress. It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions. He destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy. Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done, including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM — A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!”

If the January 6 case had gone to trial, Smith expressed confidence in his ability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump knew his claim about the 2020 election being stolen was false and pursued it anyway in order to seize power. In addition, Smith said Trump was “most responsible” for what happened on January 6 and he “caused” the riot.

Smith’s public testimony followed a lengthy closed-door deposition he gave to the Judiciary Committee last month in which he rejected accusations of partisan bias and said he never communicated with the Biden White House about the investigation, according to a transcript of the session released on New Year’s Eve.

Smith’s classified documents case in south Florida was thrown out by Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon and never got close to trial. The January 6 case also suffered significant legal setbacks and led to the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision granting the president criminal immunity from official acts. Upon Trump’s 2024 election victory, Smith wound down the cases and resigned before Trump could fire him.