Jack Smith says Trump ‘willfully’ broke the law, blasts DOJ 'retribution’ in second term

By Fox News · Fox News

Former special counsel prosecutor Jack Smith vigorously defended the decisions he made in investigating President Donald Trump after his first term in office, telling members of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday that his team of prosecutors had uncovered "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump had engaged in criminal activity. "Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity," Smith said. "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," Smith said. Smith testified publicly for the first time Thursday about the dual special counsel investigation he led looking into Trump's alleged effort to subvert the 2020 election and Trump's alleged retention of certain classified documents. JACK SMITH SUBPOENAED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Smith brought charges against Trump in both cases, but they were ultimately dropped after Trump's re-election, in keeping with longstanding Justice Department guidance. Smith resigned shortly after Trump's election to a second term in 2024. But Smith said Thursday that he had no second thoughts about the actions he took as special counsel, stressing that the decisions that were made with regard to political party and in keeping with longstanding Justice Department policies. The hearing became acrimonious at times, as House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan and other Republicans grilled Smith over certain decisions he made. FBI OUSTS FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, AGENT INVOLVED IN J6 PROSECUTIONS, WITH MORE EXPECTED One area of focus was his decision to access so-called "tolling records" of certain Republican lawmakers during the probe. Unlike wiretaps, tolling records are phone logs that reveal the phone numbers of incoming and outgoing callers, as well as the time and duration of calls. Republicans honed in on this detail Thursday, blasting the a…