Former special counsel Jack Smith will testify in a public hearing next week, setting up a potentially dramatic retelling of his investigations into President Donald Trump.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan said Monday that Smith will appear Jan. 22 as part of the congressional probe of the investigation into Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election.
The former special counsel testified for eight hours in a closed-door Judiciary Committee hearing in December and transcripts were later released.
Smith’s legal team requested he be permitted to appear in public.
On Friday, Jordan told POLITICO he planned to invite Smith to a public hearing.
The public hearing will allow Republicans to openly question Smith’s investigation, which the president and many Republicans in Congress have labeled a witch hunt. It will allow Democrats to highlight the evidence that led the special counsel to charge Trump with attempting to reverse the 2020 presidential election and mishandle classified documents.
In his closed-door testimony, Smith defended his investigation and said he is interested in sharing the results but that the Department of Justice prevented him based on its interpretation of a court order keeping details of the case under seal.
