Jack Smith notes fuel GOP scrutiny over contacts with judges in Trump cases

Conservative critics are accusing former special counsel Jack Smith of poorly coordinating with two federal judges after Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released documents Tuesday showing that Smith’s team interacted with the two judges during the Trump investigations.

“Democratic DC district judges in the United States illegally worked in secret with Biden special counsel Jack Smith to bring charges against President Trump,” Mike Davis, founder of the Article III Project, claimed on X as details of the documents were revealed Tuesday.

Smith’s investigations led to criminal charges against President Donald Trump during the 2020 election and alleged retention of classified documents. Trump called the investigation a “witch hunt,” while Republicans widely condemned the accusations as an abuse of power aimed at eliminating the leading Republican presidential candidate.

The documents released by Grassley included notes about a briefing Smith’s team gave to Attorney General Merrick Garland on January 13, 2023, just after Garland appointed Smith as special counsel. The notes referenced meetings with Judges Beryl Howell and James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., both Obama appointees and Trump enemies known for their high-profile adverse rulings against the president.

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Senator Chuck Grassley is seen at the U.S. Capitol during government shutdown votes, October 16, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“She liked our approach of pursuing executive privilege litigation in an omnibus fashion,” Smith’s team wrote in reference to Howell, according to the documents. Omnibus motions allow litigation to be consolidated rather than piecemeal and are typically used by attorneys to streamline court cases. Smith’s team has frequently sought court permission to waive executive privilege, a presumed right available to a president and his aides that gives their communications a layer of legal confidentiality.

The briefing notes referred to an upcoming meeting with Boasberg on March 18, 2023, the day after he was scheduled to become chief justice, succeeding Howell.

Cruz’s office told Fox News Digital that the senator thought meetings with judges were important. The remark came after Cruz led a Senate hearing on the Trump affairs on Tuesday in which he said Smith’s work was a “modern Watergate” scandal, vast and hyperpolitical, sweeping up personal information, such as phone records, belonging to hundreds of Republican entities and individuals.

A Republican congressional investigator told Fox News Digital that the meetings with the justices deserve further scrutiny.

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Beryl A. Howell and James E. Boasberg, who succeeds Howell as chief judge of the Federal District Court in DC, pose for a portrait and speak at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC, March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Smith’s team wrote in Garland’s briefing notes that Howell was aware an omnibus motion on executive privilege was coming “and he loves the idea.” Smith’s team listed nearly a dozen former Trump officials, such as Mark Meadows and Ken Cuccinelli, who would be included in the consolidated motion. The notes referenced five other separate executive privilege motions that were already being processed by the court, signaling that an omnibus motion would represent a reduction in paperwork for the court.

The briefing notes also mention recent meetings between the special prosecutor’s team and senior FBI officials. The FBI “was very responsive,” Smith’s team wrote. The team cited “the unprecedented issues we face in areas of executive privilege. [and] Speech or Debate,” a possible reference to Smith testing the separation of powers by looking for potentially privileged elements among those in Trump’s orbit.

Independent journalist Julie Kelly, an outspoken critic of Biden’s DOJ, observed on X that Smith’s team interacted with the judges. Kelly suggested the justices were “in cahoots with Biden DOJ to approve, or even advise, any strategy presented by Jack Smith.”

Attorney Bill Shipley, a longtime federal prosecutor who represented dozens of defendants on Jan. 6, wrote on Shipley also noted that Howell and Boasberg were chief judges, meaning all grand jury matters had to go through their offices.

Shipley noted, however, that he believed Howell had notoriously ruled against the Trump administration and that her enthusiastic approval of an omnibus motion represented a desire for her to make decisions before her term as chief justice expires in March 2023.

“What troubles me about the text of the memo is the suggestion — which was borne out by subsequent events — that Judge Howell wished to resolve all issues relating to witness privilege before resigning as Chief Justice,” Shipley wrote, while noting that her decisions were subject to appeal.

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Former Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives for a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, Wednesday, December 17, 2025. (Getty Images)

Smith repeatedly supported his work, testifying before Congress that he was aligned with DOJ policies and nonpartisan.

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A representative for Smith declined to comment on the latest release of the document.

Howell and Boasberg’s chambers did not respond to requests for comment.