The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to former special counsel Jack Smith, who led investigations into President Donald Trump, ordering him to appear at a closed-door session later this month.
Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded in a letter to Smith that the former DOJ official who oversaw cases around Trump’s retention of classified documents and efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election provide documents by Dec. 12 and sit for a deposition with the panel on Dec. 17.
It is a marked escalation after Smith signaled an openness to answering questions and weeks of negotiations over the terms of an interview. Smith asked for a public hearing rather than a closed-door interview.
Smith’s lawyer Peter Koski said in a statement that his client looked forward to meeting with the panel later this month but that he regretted he could not appear in a public setting.
“Nearly six weeks ago Jack offered to voluntarily appear before the House Judiciary committee in an open hearing to answer any questions lawmakers have about his investigation into President Trump’s alleged efforts to unlawfully overturn the election results and retention of classified documents,” Koski said. “We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics.”
Republican lawmakers have become increasingly fixated on the probes launched during Joe Biden’s presidency and Smith’s stewardship of the cases, arguing that the efforts amounted to a campaign to undermine Trump. They have sought to argue that Biden and his allies weaponized the Justice Department, even as Trump has publicly called on his attorney general to prosecute his political adversaries.
The cause has become personal for some GOP members following revelations that the Justice Department requested some lawmakers’ phone records as part of its investigative work. Jordan recently revealed that the Justice Department subpoenaed years worth of his phone data.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the committee’s top Democrat, defended the former special counsel and his tactics in a statement and questioned why Republicans are insisting on having Smith testify behind closed doors. But he also criticized the phone record request targeting Jordan, which was issued before Smith was named to his post.
“Special Counsel Smith’s careful investigative steps stand in contrast to a separate subpoena issued for 2.5 years of Chairman Jordan’s personal phone records that was recently produced to the Committee and appears manifestly overbroad,” he said, adding that Smith’s requests “were narrowly tailored to obtain phone records for the days surrounding January 6.”
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