Former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended the two criminal prosecutions he led against President Donald Trump, in an appearance before a committee in the United States House of Representatives.Testifying in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, Smith took questions from the House Judiciary Committee about the two criminal indictments he ultimately spearheaded.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe first, filed in June 2023, alleged that Trump mishandled classified information while out of office. The second, in August of the same year, accused the Republican leader of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost.“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith told the committee.He also fended off accusations from the Republican-led committee that his investigations had been politically motivated.“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith said.“We took actions based on what the facts and the law required — the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor.”Smith added that the basis of his prosecutions “rests entirely with President Trump and his actions” and that he would make the same decision again today to bring charges, whether the defendant in question were a Republican or Democrat.Smith’s appearance came as a result of a Republican-led subpoena, issued on December 3, for his testimony. Advertisement T …
