Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led the aborted federal prosecution of Donald Trump, testified before the House judiciary committee that he never spoke to Joe Biden about his cases, according to a transcript released on Wednesday. Smith defended the charges he brought against Trump for allegedly possessing classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election, warning of the consequences of allowing election interference to go unpunished.
During the closed-door deposition, Smith said he operated without interference from Attorney General Merrick Garland or any other top justice department officials. When asked by Democratic congressman Dan Goldman whether President Biden had given him any instructions, Smith replied: “No.” He later specified he had not spoken to Biden about his cases in any way.
Smith was appointed in November 2022 and brought two federal cases against Trump, who also faced state-level charges. Neither federal indictment went to trial before Trump returned to office following the 2024 election, after which Smith dropped the charges in line with justice department policy. The election-interference case was slowed by pretrial motions, including a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, while the classified-documents case was hampered by rulings from Florida judge Aileen Cannon.
In his testimony, Smith insisted he had no political motivations and said he believed “we had proof beyond a reasonable doubt in both cases.” He told the committee he would have indicted Biden or Barack Obama over similar evidence. Smith also hit back at Republican allegations that his team unlawfully obtained phone data from members of Congress, calling the narratives “false and misleading” and stating the records were “lawfully subpoenaed.”
