Jack Smith faces public grilling on Capitol Hill about Trump prosecutions
Former special counsel Jack Smith is set to appear Thursday on Capitol Hill for a televised hearing, during which he will face questions from House Judiciary Committee Republicans and Democrats...
By Fox News · Fox News
Former special counsel Jack Smith is set to appear Thursday on Capitol Hill for a televised hearing, during which he will face questions from House Judiciary Committee Republicans and Democrats about his two prosecutions of President Donald Trump. Republicans, led by Chairman Jim Jordan , R-Ohio, are expected to level allegations at Smith that he brought politicized criminal charges against a leading presidential candidate to interfere with the 2024 election. Smith’s appearance will mark the second time in as many months that he has answered questions before the Republican-led committee after he sat for an eight-hour deposition behind closed doors in December. JACK SMITH SUBPOENAED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Smith has long wanted to speak publicly about his work, and Trump, who has said Smith is a "thug" who belongs in jail, said in the Oval Office last year that he wanted the same. "I'd rather see him testify publicly because there's no way he can answer the questions," Trump had said upon learning that Smith would first be testifying behind closed doors. The public hearing featuring Smith is set to begin at 10 a.m. and comes as part of the committee’s ongoing probe into his special counsel work. Republicans have specifically criticized Smith for seeking gag orders against Trump during his presidential campaign, attempting to fast-track court proceedings and subpoenaing records and phone data of hundreds of Trump-aligned people and entities, including numerous members of Congress. The Republicans will likely broach the controversial subpoenas for the phone records, a source familiar with the hearing told Fox News Digital. Republicans are also likely to raise questions about Smith’s team approving $20,000 in payments to an FBI source, known as a confidential human source, to gather intel on Trump, the source said. Smith charged Trump with attempting to illegally overturn the 2020 election and with retention of classified documents, but he dropped…