House Republicans subpoena Jack Smith for closed-door interview about
his prosecutions of Trump
[December 04, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has
subpoenaed former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for a
closed-door interview later this month even though he had earlier
volunteered to appear for an open hearing about his prosecutions of
President Donald Trump.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee's Republican chairman, directed
Smith in a letter dated Wednesday to appear for a private deposition on
Dec. 17 as part of the panel's investigations into the prosecutor's
work.
“Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you
possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter,”
Jordan wrote. He also asked Smith to produce records to the committee in
addition to his testimony.
A lawyer for Smith, Peter Koski, said in a statement that Smith had
offered nearly six weeks ago to appear before the committee in an open
hearing but would nonetheless appear as requested for the deposition.
“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,” Koski said. “Jack looks forward to meeting with the
committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various
misconceptions about his investigation.”
Smith was appointed in 2022 to oversee the Justice Department
investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential
election loss and his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago
estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Smith's team filed charges in both
investigations.
Smith abandoned the cases after Trump was elected to the White House
again last year, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit
the indictment of a sitting president.
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Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment
of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington. (AP
Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Republicans who control Congress have sought interviews with members
of Smith's team and in recent weeks have seized on revelations that
the team, as part of its investigation, had analyzed the phone
records of select GOP lawmakers from on and around Jan. 6, 2021,
when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to halt the
certification of the Republican president's election loss to
Democrat Joe Biden.
Smith's legal team has noted that the records that investigators
obtained did not include the contents of the conversations but
instead merely captured incoming and outgoing call numbers, the
times the calls were placed and how long they lasted.
“Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the
decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following
the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for
the political consequences,” Smith's lawyers wrote to lawmakers in
October.
“His investigative decisions were similarly motivated, and the
subpoena for toll records was entirely proper, lawful, and
consistent with established Department of Justice policy. While Mr.
Smith’s prosecutions of President Trump have predictably been
politicized by others, politics never influenced his decision
making,” they added.
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