Former special counsel Jack Smith was scheduled to appear Tuesday, September 29, 2026, before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend his federal investigations into Donald Trump. In prepared remarks obtained by The Hill, Smith stated that his decisions to bring charges related to the January 6 Capitol attack and the mishandling of classified documents were based strictly on evidence and law, independent of political considerations. Smith resigned from the Justice Department in early 2025, 10 days before President Trump’s second inauguration, after moving to dismiss the cases in accordance with department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
The appearance follows a previous January 2026 hearing before the House Judiciary Committee and a closed-door deposition in December 2025. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) referred Smith to the Justice Department for potential prosecution, alleging the former special counsel misled Congress about whether his team obtained the contents of lawmakers' communications. Smith's attorneys denied the allegation, stating his testimony was "unimpeachably truthful" and addressed specific questions about call logs, not text messages.
In his prepared statement for the Senate, Smith addressed threats of prosecution against himself and his team, stating he would not be "silenced." He argued that the rule of law faces unique challenges when individuals are threatened for perceived opposition to the president. Smith maintained that grand juries in two separate districts returned indictments based on Trump’s actions, including a "criminal scheme" to overturn the 2020 election results and efforts to obstruct justice regarding classified records found at Mar-a-Lago.
For ordinary citizens and federal employees, the outcome of these hearings may influence future Justice Department norms regarding the investigation of high-ranking officials and the degree of congressional oversight over independent prosecutors. The scale of the underlying cases involved more than 300 documents marked classified and allegations of fraudulent elector slates in seven states.
The immediate impact is political and legal friction between the executive branch and former Justice Department officials. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson characterized Smith as a "lying hack" who weaponized the system, while Smith’s attorneys described the congressional referral as a "chilling" attempt to retaliate against a career public servant. The next steps depend on whether the Justice Department acts on the criminal referral from Rep. Jordan and whether Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) pursues further inquiries into the subpoenas issued to conservative groups and GOP lawmakers. The hearing was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. EDT.