WASHINGTON ― Republicans in Congress have rejected Jack Smith’s offer to testify in public, demanding instead that he come to Capitol Hill later this month for a closed-door deposition.
Smith led the two prosecutions of President Donald Trump for hoarding classified documents after he left office and for trying to overthrow the 2020 election result. Trump has called Smith a criminal who should be in prison.
The deposition is part of Republicans’ broader effort to rewrite the history of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters and to cast every effort to hold Trump accountable as a witch hunt.
A spokesman for House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Smith’s deposition would happen behind closed doors. In most such depositions, committees release a transcript days or weeks later.
Smith’s attorneys had previously offered for him to testify in public.
“We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics,” Peter Koski, an attorney for Smith, said in an emailed statement. “Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, criticized Jordan for insisting on a private interview after Smith had volunteered to testify in public.
“Chairman Jordan has denied Special Counsel Jack Smith’s offer to speak publicly to the whole Congress and the whole country about his investigations into Donald Trump, instead demanding he comply with a subpoena for a closed-door, private session simply so Republicans can spin, distort, and cherry-pick his remarks through press leaks,” Raskin said. “What are our colleagues so afraid of, that they won’t let the American people hear directly from the Special Counsel?”
Later on Wednesday, the president himself said he’d rather see public testimony.
“I’d rather see it probably at a hearing. Look, Jack Smith is a thug. He’s a failed prosecutor. He’s a bad man. He’s a bad ― he’s an evil man,” Trump said. “I’d rather see him testify publicly because there’s no way he can answer the questions.”
Jordan first requested Smith’s testimony in October, accusing Smith’s team of having “sought to silence President Trump by restricting his public statements about the case, conducted an unnecessary and abusive raid of his residence, attempted to improperly pressure defense counsel with the promise of political patronage, and manipulated key evidence in the investigation.”
In response, Smith’s attorneys suggested a public hearing.
“Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,” the attorneys wrote in October.
Citing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, the former special counsel ended his cases against Trump after he won the presidential election to the White House last year.
Republicans this year have sought to pick apart Smith’s investigation and portray the prosecution of Trump as a bigger attack on democracy than Trump’s attempt to nullify a free and fair election.
The House Judiciary Committee has already deposed members of Smith’s team, and in recent weeks, Senate Republicans have revealed the Justice Department obtained their phone records as part of its investigation. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) added language to a recent government funding bill that could give the Republican senators millions of dollars in damages.