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By Gabe Whisnant
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President Donald Trump lashed out at former special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony on Thursday, claiming in a Truth Social post that Smith was being discredited by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee and urging the Justice Department to scrutinize the former prosecutor’s work.
Trump reiterated his long‑standing accusations that the investigations into him were politically motivated and called the cases against him a “Democrat scam.”
Trump wrote, as Smith testified: "Deranged Jack Smith is being DECIMATED before Congress. It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions. He destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy. Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law. If he were a Republican, his license would be taken away from him, and far worse! Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done, including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM — A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!"
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When asked by Democratic Representative Becca Balint of Vermont how Trump's repeated attacks impacted himself, staff and investigation, Smith said, in part: "I'm not going to be intimidated. We followed the law. And that process resulted in proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed serious crimes. I'm not going to pretend that didn't happen because he's threatening me."
Jack Smith Says Trump's DOJ Will Try To Indict Him
Balint also asked whether he believed a Trump-led Justice Department would try to indict him, and Smith replied that he expected that officials would “do everything in their power” to pursue charges because, he said, they had been directed to do so by the president.
Why Is Jack Smith Testifying?
Smith testified before Congress as part of a House Judiciary Committee investigation led by Republicans who argue that his criminal probes of Trump were politically motivated. Smith, who oversaw investigations into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents, has already testified behind closed doors and returned for a public hearing to defend his decisions and explain the basis for the now-abandoned prosecutions.
Republicans have framed the hearing as oversight of the Justice Department and what they call the “weaponization” of federal law enforcement, while Democrats say Smith is appearing to reaffirm that his actions were grounded in evidence and long-standing department policy, not partisan politics.
What We Know About Jack Smith’s Political Affiliation
Smith has consistently described himself as nonpartisan and has not publicly identified with any political party. A career prosecutor, Smith has worked under Republican and Democratic administrations, including serving as head of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section and later as a war crimes prosecutor at The Hague. He has rejected claims that his investigations were designed to influence elections, saying he would have pursued the same cases “regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”
Fight Almost Breaks Out At Smith Hearing
Police broke up an altercation between former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone and conservative activist Ivan Raiklin during Smith’s testimony.
Fanone was among the officers who responded to the January 6, 2021 rally, when a group of Trump supporters violently protested Trump's 2020 electoral loss. Fanone suffered injuries during the protest and has been a Trump critic ever since. Raiklin is a conservative activist who has been described by media outlets like Rolling Stone and The Atlantic as Trump’s “secretary of retribution.”
Verbal sparring between Fanone and Raiklin broke out during the committee hearing. It’s unclear what sparked the altercation.
During Smith’s testimony, Representative Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, said fault over the January 6 riot does not “lie with Donald Trump” but with the U.S. Capitol leadership team. Fanone responded by coughing and saying, “Go f*** yourself.”
Smith Says Key Witnesses Included Trump Allies
Pressed on the scope of testimony gathered in the federal case against Trump, Smith said one of the biggest challenges his team faced was condensing the evidence for trial because prosecutors had “so many witnesses.”
“Some of the most powerful witnesses were witnesses who, in fact, were fellow Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump, who had campaigned for him and who wanted him to win the election,” Smith said, noting that their accounts were central to understanding the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 result.
Smith also made clear that he chose not to bring an insurrection charge against Trump, a count that House impeachment managers pursued in the aftermath of the January 6 riot. The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump of incitement of an insurrection in that proceeding.
“With respect to the charge of insurrection, we did not charge that,” Smith said. “I thought the charges we brought were appropriate given the evidence we had.”
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Update 1/22/26, 2:06 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Update 1/22/26, 2:52 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
Update 1/22/26, 5:56 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
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