House GOP Seek Jack Smith Testimony    10/15 06:19

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested 
Tuesday that Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel, appear 
for an interview, part of an escalating effort among the GOP to pursue the 
perceived enemies of President Donald Trump.

   Rep. Jim Jordan, the committee chair, charged in a letter to Smith that his 
prosecutions of Trump were "partisan and politically motivated." Smith has come 
under particular scrutiny on Capitol Hill, especially after the Senate 
Judiciary Committee said last week that his investigation had included an FBI 
analysis of phone records for more than half a dozen Republican lawmakers from 
the week of Jan. 6, 2021

   Smith brought two cases against Trump, one accusing him of conspiring to 
overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the other of 
hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both were 
brought in 2023, well over a year before the 2024 presidential election, and 
indictments in the two cases cited what Smith and his team described as clear 
violations of well-established federal law. Former Attorney General Merrick 
Garland, who named Smith as special counsel in November 2022, has repeatedly 
said politics played no part in the handling of the cases.

   Smith abandoned the criminal cases against Trump after he won the 
presidential election last year. Trump's return to the White House precluded 
the federal prosecutions, as well as paved the way for Republicans to go after 
Trump's political and legal opponents.

   Jordan wrote to Smith: "Your testimony is necessary to understand the full 
extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law 
enforcement."

   In just the last weeks, the Trump administration has pursued criminal 
charges against both James Comey, the former FBI director, and New York 
Attorney General Letitia James, who for years investigated and sued Trump.

   Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said 
in a statement that "everyone can see the irony" of the committee demanding 
testimony from Smith at a time when Trump has demanded the prosecutions of 
Comey and James.

   The House Judiciary Committee has been looking into Smith's actions as 
special counsel since the start of the year. Jordan said that it had 
interviewed two other members of Smith's prosecutorial team, but they had 
declined to answer many questions, citing the Fifth Amendment.

   An attorney for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment 
on the House Judiciary Committee's interview request.