The Jan. 22 session will mark the first time Smith answers questions about his Trump investigations in a public congressional forum. Smith’s two indictments of Trump — one over classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago and one over efforts to overturn the 2020 election — were both dismissed after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election, with Smith citing Justice Department policy barring prosecution of a sitting president.
Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel who led two criminal investigations into President Donald Trump, is scheduled to testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22, the panel’s Republican chairman announced Monday.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said during a Fox News interview that Smith would appear before the committee, and a spokesman for Smith confirmed the hearing Tuesday. The session will be Smith’s first public congressional testimony about the Trump investigations.
“He’ll be a tough witness, but we’re going to present the facts, and I think, frankly, we’re going to show that Jack Smith was part of this bigger effort” to bring down Trump, Jordan said.
Prior closed-door testimony
Smith has already testified before the committee behind closed doors. A transcript of that private deposition, which has been released publicly, shows Smith told lawmakers that the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol “does not happen” without Trump.
Smith also pushed back in the deposition against the suggestion that his investigations were designed to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 presidential election.
“So in terms of why we would pursue a case against him, I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the presidential election,” Smith said, according to the transcript.
Background on the investigations
Smith was appointed special counsel in November 2022 by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland. He oversaw investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Both investigations resulted in criminal indictments.
Smith dismissed both cases after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election, citing Justice Department legal opinions that bar the indictment of a sitting president.
Lanny Breuer, one of Smith’s lawyers, said in a statement last week that Smith “has been clear for months he is ready and willing to answer questions in a public hearing about his investigations into President Trump’s alleged unlawful efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has said the Justice Department was weaponized against him as he sought to return to the White House.