Former special counsel Jack Smith is demanding that an open-door hearing be held with the House Judiciary Committee to allow him to both defend his investigations into President Donald Trump and himself against attacks from House Republicans.
“[We] reiterate our request for an open and public hearing,” Smith’s lawyers, Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski, wrote in a letter to committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Politico reported Friday.
"During the investigation of President Trump, Mr. Smith steadfastly followed Justice Department policies, observed all legal requirements, and took actions based on the facts and the law. He stands by his decisions," the attorneys added.
Smith appeared behind closed doors for a deposition with the Judiciary Committee earlier this week.
In their letter, provided to Politico, Breuer and Koski requested that the video of that testimony be released publicly and in full, so that Smith can make his case known directly to the public "rather than through second-hand accounts."
Newsmax has reached out to Jordan's office for comment.
Smith spoke more than eight hours, under oath, to House Judiciary members, during which he stood behind his decisions to file charges against then-former President Donald Trump over allegations he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and that he mishandled classified documents.
Smith, in his statement to the House committee, argued that his office had evidence that would have proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump had broken the law.
Both cases were dropped, however, under Justice Department policy preventing the prosecution of a sitting president.
House and Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have continued to investigate Smith and his office, particularly after it was revealed that the special counsel sought phone data for GOP lawmakers while investigating the election case.
Jordan has said he hasn't ruled out allowing Smith to testify publicly, and has referred the former special counsel's senior assistant for criminal prosecution for failing to cooperate with the committee's investigation.
Not much has been revealed about Smith's testimony this week.
However, that testimony is hindered because of DOJ policy, grand jury secrecy rules, and a judge's order that Smith's report about the classified documents remain sealed.
Congressional Democrats are backing Smith's call for a public hearing, saying that the closed hearings are depriving the public of information about Trump while Republicans try to distort the former special counsel's testimony record.
"I think somebody should prepare Donald Trump for it, because he will be devastated and humiliated by what he hears," Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, commented.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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