House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, made a criminal referral of former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department, alleging he misled Congress about his investigations of Donald Trump.
House investigators deposed Smith behind closed doors in December, and the former prosecutor testified in a public hearing in January. According to a letter from Jordan, an Ohio Republican, Smith “gave the impression” to lawmakers that his investigations into Trump from late 2022 through late 2024 did not include access to members’ text messages.
However, the Senate Judiciary Committee this month released documents showing that Smith gained access to the text messages of 44 members of Congress, as well as the messages of former Vice President Mike Pence, White House officials in the first Trump administration, and Trump attorneys.
#BREAKING: Chairman @Jim_Jordan referred former Special Counsel Jack Smith to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution.
The evidence appears to show that Jack Smith knowingly made false statements while testifying under oath before the Committee.
Read the letterpic.twitter.com/yxz5rF6d48
— House Judiciary GOP
(@JudiciaryGOP) July 23, 2026
A Republican House Judiciary post on X late Wednesday said, “The evidence appears to show that Jack Smith knowingly made false statements while testifying under oath before the Committee.” It displayed a letter from Jordan to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche claiming that Smith’s testimony to members included “intentionally false statements.”
“All individuals have an obligation to comply with a duly authorized congressional inquiry. Mr. Smith, a former public servant, is no different,” Jordan’s letter to Blanche says. “Yet his testimony included intentionally false statements designed to obstruct the Committee’s oversight.”
Jordan added, “His conduct can only be understood as an effort to thwart the committee’s inquiry by intentionally making false statements and representations before Congress.”
Smith is currently a partner in the law firm of Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom. The Daily Signal reached out to the firm late Wednesday and early Thursday but did not receive a comment by publication time.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, called the Jordan referral to the Justice Department “absurd” and said GOP members of the committee “embarrassed themselves.”
He said that Smith was truthful in his deposition to lawmakers and accused Republicans of misrepresenting the questions they asked him.
“It seems Republican members of Congress are lashing out because they just realized their communications with the White House became presidential records preserved at the National Archives as required by the Presidential Records Act,” Raskin said in a statement. “This referral deliberately distorts and misstates the facts, including what questions the Republicans actually asked at Mr. Smith’s interview. The Republicans fault Mr. Smith for not reading the minds of congressional investigators and for not volunteering information they didn’t ask for.”
Smith investigated Trump’s challenge to the outcome of his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, as well as Trump’s retention of government documents at his home in Mar-a-Lago. He secured a federal grand jury indictment in the election case against Trump, but he dropped the case after Trump won the 2024 election. He also secured an indictment accusing Trump of mishandling classified information, but a federal court dismissed that indictment.
According to Jordan’s letter, Smith was asked in his deposition before the committee, “Did you seek a search warrant for the content of any text messages from Members?” Smith answered, “No, I don’t recall that.”
When asked if he sought a search warrant for “just toll records,” Smith replied in the affirmative. When asked if the requested toll records included the content of members’ text messages, he answered, “No.”
Continue reading...
[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
