Transcript, video of Jack Smith's testimony on Trump cases released

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Washington — The House Judiciary Committee made nationalist Wednesday a transcript and video from erstwhile peculiar counsel Jack Smith's closed-door deposition earlier lawmakers earlier this month.

Smith testified for much than 8 hours earlier lawmakers and answered questions astir his 2 investigations and consequent prosecutions of President Trump, which ended aft helium won a 2nd word successful the White House successful November 2024.

The archetypal probe progressive Mr. Trump's alleged efforts to subvert the transportation of power aft the 2020 election, and the 2nd stemmed from his alleged mishandling of delicate authorities documents aft the extremity of his archetypal word successful 2021. Mr. Trump denied immoderate wrongdoing and has claimed Smith's investigations were motivated by politics.

Smith had offered to attest publicly earlier the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, arsenic anterior peculiar counsels person done, but Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who leads the House panel, issued a subpoena for Smith's grounds successful a closed-door deposition earlier this month.

Lawyers for the erstwhile peculiar counsel, who near the relation earlier Mr. Trump's inauguration, reiterated their request for Smith to reply questions from lawmakers successful a nationalist forum pursuing his deposition.

During his backstage interview, Smith defended his investigations and said helium was assured that helium had capable grounds to beryllium the charges against Mr. Trump beyond a tenable doubt. Smith besides repeatedly rejected immoderate proposition that helium sought indictments against the president successful an effort to harm his 2024 statesmanlike run and said helium ne'er spoke to then-President Joe Biden oregon the White House astir the investigations into Mr. Trump.

Jack Smith Deposition Before House Judiciary Committee

Smith told lawmakers that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland oregon different Justice Department officials ne'er suggested helium was expected to bring charges against Mr. Trump.

"The grounds present made wide that President Trump was by a ample measurement the astir culpable and astir liable idiosyncratic successful this conspiracy," helium said of the prosecution related to alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. "These crimes were committed for his benefit. The onslaught that happened astatine the Capitol, portion of this case, does not hap without him. The different co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit."

Smith besides lambasted the firings of Justice Department and FBI employees who worked connected the cases against Mr. Trump, calling it "awful" and "contrary to who I deliberation we are arsenic a country."

"I americium some saddened and angered that President Trump has sought revenge against vocation prosecutors, FBI agents, and enactment unit simply for doing their jobs and for having worked connected those cases," helium said. "These dedicated nationalist servants are the champion of us, and they person been wrongly vilified and improperly dismissed from their jobs."

Smith revealed during his hours of grounds that his squad determined they had grounds to complaint immoderate of Mr. Trump's co-conspirators successful the election-related cases, but said helium had not yet made last decisions connected whether to bash truthful erstwhile Mr. Trump won re-election.

Six unnamed co-conspirators were described successful the four-count indictment against Mr. Trump implicit his alleged effort to clasp onto power. While they weren't identified, details and Smith's grounds indicated they appeared to beryllium Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Boris Epshteyn and Jeffrey Clark, who was a high-ranking Justice Department official.

Giuliani and Epshteyn spoke with Smith's investigators, helium said. Giuliani "disavowed a fig of the claims" helium made publically astir the integrity of the 2020 predetermination successful an interrogation with the peculiar counsel's team, according to Smith.

Smith besides told the Judiciary Committee that his squad had grounds that Mr. Trump directed his alleged co-conspirators to telephone senators connected Jan. 6, 2021, to transportation them to hold the ballot to certify the results of the 2020 election.

"That was accordant with our probe throughout, that the radical that President Trump and his co-conspirators reached retired to were radical who they thought would spell on oregon assistance them due to the fact that of enactment allegiance," helium said. "And Giuliani, successful particular, would notation that helium expected their practice due to the fact that they were Republicans."

Smith told lawmakers that his squad had lined up witnesses for the election-related lawsuit who were governmental allies of Mr. Trump but had pushed backmost connected his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the election, including by submitting fake slates of statesmanlike electors claiming the Republican had won their respective states.

"Our lawsuit was built on, frankly, Republicans who enactment their allegiance to the state earlier the party," helium said.

The erstwhile peculiar counsel cited a erstwhile congressman from Pennsylvania, Thomas Marino, who agreed to beryllium a Republican statesmanlike elector and who Smith said characterized Mr. Trump's alleged strategy arsenic an "attempt to overthrow the government."

Since Mr. Trump returned to the White House, helium has continued to onslaught Smith, calling him a "criminal." Republicans successful Congress person launched their ain probes into Smith's handling of the cases involving Mr. Trump, and helium is besides nether probe by the Office of Special Counsel, an bureau that is unrelated to Smith's erstwhile presumption arsenic peculiar counsel.

Jacob Rosen contributed to this report.