House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan is looking to paint former special counsel Jack Smith as the culmination of a years-long campaign by Democrats to leverage law enforcement activities against President Donald Trump.
In his opening remarks Thursday morning where Smith is testifying in public for the first time, the Ohio Republican reiterated complaints against a laundry list of government officials involved with investigations or criminal cases against Trump — among them Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, former FBI director James Comey and a former deputy to Smith, Thomas Windom.
Jordan has already referred Windom to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over his refusal to cooperate with his panel’s investigative work.
“We should never forget what took place, what they did to the guy ‘We the People’ elected president twice,” Jordan said, referring to Trump. “The good news is, the American people saw through it.”
Jordan, a notable political showman and steadfast Trump ally, is seeking to portray Smith as hellbent on thwarting Trump’s electoral victory in 2024. Smith has said politics played no part in his work investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of classified documents as part of the Biden Justice Department, and insisted he would have pursued the same case under the same conditions with a Democratic or Republican former president.
Smith has served in administrations under both parties.
During Jordan’s remarks, Smith coolly sipped from his water bottle and remained stoic.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) countered Jordan’s account of Smith’s work, noting that Trump has called for the imprisonment of the man who pursued criminal charges against him.
“Not because you did anything wrong, mind you, but because you did everything right,” Raskin added. “You had the audacity to do your job.”
