Former special counsel Jack Smith faces House hearing on Trump cases

Former special counsel Jack Smith is scheduled to appear at the Capitol on Thursday for a televised hearing, during which he will answer questions from Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee about his two lawsuits against President Donald Trump.

Republicans, led by Speaker Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, are expected to level allegations against Smith that he brought politicized criminal charges against a leading presidential candidate to interfere with the 2024 election.

Smith’s appearance will mark the second time in as many months that he will answer questions before the Republican-led committee after sitting for an eight-hour closed-door deposition in December.

JACK SMITH SUMMONED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE

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

Smith has long wanted to speak publicly about his work, and Trump, who called Smith a “thug” who deserves prison, said last year in the Oval Office that he wanted the same thing.

“I prefer to see him testify publicly because he has no way of answering questions,” Trump said upon learning that Smith would first testify behind closed doors.

The public hearing featuring Smith is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and is part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into his work as special counsel.

Republicans specifically criticized Smith for seeking silence orders against Trump during his presidential campaign, attempting to expedite court proceedings and subpoenaing the records and phone data of hundreds of people and entities aligned with Trump, including many members of Congress.

Republicans will likely address the controversial subpoenas over phone records, a source familiar with the hearing told Fox News Digital.

Republicans are also likely to raise questions about whether Smith’s team approved a $20,000 payment to an FBI source, known as a confidential human source, to gather information on Trump, the source said.

President Donald Trump. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Smith accused Trump of trying to illegally overturn the 2020 election and withholding classified documents, but he dropped both cases after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a DOJ policy that discourages prosecuting sitting presidents.

In his opening statement for the hearing, obtained by Fox News Digital, Smith plans to state unequivocally that he stands by his decision to indict Trump.

“Our investigation found evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” Smith plans to say. “If I were asked today whether I should prosecute a former president based on the same facts, I would do so whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”

BIDEN DOJ ASSOCIATED JIM JORDAN’S PHONE RECORDS COVERING MORE THAN TWO YEARS

Representative Jim Jordan leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, December 10, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

According to Smith’s team, the former special prosecutor plans to emphasize that his indictments were appropriate and that he carefully followed the DOJ playbook, including DOJ policies regarding election interference.

Smith’s team also said the former special counsel did not intend to answer questions that might reveal legally protected grand jury information or details in the second volume of his final special counsel report, which concerns his classified documents case on Trump. Judge Aileen Cannon sealed that report until February.

A lingering point of contention is that Smith sought phone data belonging to numerous Republican senators and House members as part of his investigation into the 2020 election. He has repeatedly defended the move, saying it was not motivated by partisanship.

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“If Donald Trump had chosen to call a certain number of Democratic senators, we would have gotten a record number of Democratic senators,” Smith said during his deposition last month. “The responsibility for why these documents, why we collected them, lies with Donald Trump.”

Republicans who have been targeted, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., have said the subpoenas violate their constitutional rights because of the added layers of immunity the Constitution grants lawmakers.