Former particular counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations of President Trump for greater than 4 hours Thursday, saying he adopted the details and the regulation, and wasn’t pushed by politics.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
We begin with the primary public testimony from former Justice Division Particular Counsel Jack Smith about his investigations into President Trump. For greater than 4 hours, Smith defended his work, which he stated adopted the details and the regulation. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas experiences.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: In his look earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee, Jack Smith made clear that he stands by his determination to carry expenses towards President Trump, and he rejected any allegation that his work was pushed by politics.
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JACK SMITH: I made my choices with out regard to President Trump’s political affiliation, actions, beliefs or candidacy within the 2024 election.
LUCAS: Smith’s crew introduced two instances towards Trump – one for allegedly attempting to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 election, and the opposite for allegedly hoarding labeled paperwork at his Mar-a-Lago dwelling.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SMITH: Our investigation developed proof past an affordable doubt that President Trump engaged in prison exercise. If requested whether or not to prosecute a former president primarily based on the identical details as we speak, I might accomplish that no matter whether or not that president was a Democrat or a Republican.
LUCAS: Nobody, Smith stated, ought to be above the regulation, and the regulation required that President Trump be held to account. Smith was unable to enter any element on Quantity 2 of his report, the part in regards to the labeled paperwork probe, due to a standing court docket order. On Capitol Hill, help for Smith has lengthy reduce alongside social gathering strains, and that held true at Thursday’s listening to. Democrats voiced their robust backing for Smith and his investigations, whereas Republicans assault Smith as a partisan actor and stated he focused Trump for political causes. This is the panel’s prime Republican, Ohio’s Jim Jordan.
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JIM JORDAN: It was at all times about politics. And to get President Trump, they had been keen to do absolutely anything.
LUCAS: President Trump was not current, however he did look like monitoring the listening to. In a put up on social media, in the course of the proceedings, Trump referred to as Smith a deranged animal who should not be capable of follow regulation, and Trump stated hopefully, Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi is trying into Smith. Requested whether or not he believes the Trump Justice Division will discover some option to indict him, Smith had this to say.
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SMITH: I consider they are going to do the whole lot of their energy to do this as a result of they have been ordered to by the president.
LUCAS: Nonetheless, Smith stated he wouldn’t be intimidated, and his solely remorse, he stated, will not be expressing sufficient appreciation for the prosecutors and FBI brokers he labored with, a lot of whom have been fired by the Trump administration. Ryan Lucas, NPR Information, Washington.
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