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More than a year after his historic prosecutions of Donald Trump were rendered moot by the 2024 presidential election, former Special Counsel Jack Smith defended his indictments as he was grilled by House Republicans in a heated House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“My fear is that we have seen the rule of law functioning in our country for so long that many of us come to take it for granted,” Smith said in his first public testimony since his investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents were dropped.
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The public hearing came as Trump, who repeatedly called Smith a “sick person,” said in a Truth Social post that Smith “destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy” and called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Smith and “some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses.”
“A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through,” Trump wrote.
Read more: Trump Has Vowed to Prosecute His Political Foes. Here’s Who Could Be Next
Smith offered a strong pushback against House Republicans in his testimony, rebuking Trump’s rhetoric against him and his colleagues, saying many of the narratives spread about his team were “false and misleading.”
“President Trump has sought to seek revenge against career prosecutors, FBI agents, and support staff, simply for having worked on these cases. To vilify and seek retribution against these people is wrong,” Smith said during his testimony.
Asked if Smith believed the Department of Justice under Trump would find ways to indict him as retribution, Smith predicted it would do “everything in their power because they’ve been ordered to by the president.”
Smith made clear he still believed that both of his investigations into Trump were just. “Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” Smith said. “If asked whether…
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