President Trump broke the law, former special counsel Jack Smith told committee members Thursday at an appearance before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee. Smith, who led investigations into Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election and alleged mishandling of classified documents, is testifying publicly for first time about his probes. “President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold,” Smith said. “Grand juries in two separate districts reached this conclusion based on his actions as alleged in the indictments they returned.” Smith also said that the facts and the law supported a prosecution, and that he made decisions not based on politics, but the facts and the law.

Donald Trump is the person who caused Jan. 6,’ former special counsel Jack Smith tells House panel
Former special counsel Jack Smith, testifying Thursday before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, was unequivocal about who caused the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“Our investigation revealed that Donald Trump is the person who caused Jan. 6, that it was foreseeable to him and that he sought to exploit the violence,” Smith testified. “We followed the facts and we followed the law — where that led us was to an indictment of an unprecedented criminal scheme to block the peaceful transfer of power.”

Smith, who led investigations into Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election and alleged mishandling of classified documents, testified publicly for first time about his probes.

Jack Smith testifies before House Judiciary Committee about his Trump probes
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases, before both cases were dropped following Trump’s reelection due to the Justice Department’s long-standing policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.

The former special counsel said that partisan politics did not play a role in his decision to charge Trump in his two investigations.

“Some of the most powerful witnesses were witnesses who, in fact, were fellow Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump, who had campaigned for him and, who wanted him to win the election. These included state officials, people who worked on his campaign and advisors,” Smith said of his election interference probe.

In seeking to challenge the results of the 2020 election, Trump was “looking for ways to stay in power,” Smith testified.

Trump was not “was not looking for honest answers about whether there was fraud in the election. He was looking for ways to stay in power. And when people told him, things that conflicted with him staying power, he rejected them or he chose not even to contact people like that,” Smith told committee members.

Smith told legislators that he would not be intimated by President Trump’s statements calling for him to be investigated.

“The statements are meant to intimidate me. I will not be intimidated. I think these statements are also made, as a warning to others what will happen if they stand up,” Smith said. “I’m not going to be intimidated. We did our work pursuant to Department policy. We followed the facts, and we follow the law.”
Asked about the sweeping pardons Trump granted those who were charged with attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, Smith said, “I do not understand why you would mass pardon people who assaulted police officers. I don’t get it. I never will.”

Republican Rep. Troy Nehls, who is retiring from the House, addressed the Capitol Police officers who were in the chamber.

“I would like to quickly address the police officers from Jan. 6, ” Nehls said. “I’m a member of the new select committee to actually examine, actually examine what happened that day, and I can tell you gentlemen that the fault does not lie with Donald Trump. It lies with … the U.S. Capitol leadership team. We know, we know they had the intelligence, and there was going to be a high propensity for violence.”