The House Judiciary Committee has formally urged the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith. The referral, signed by Chairman Jim Jordan, accuses Smith of making willfully false statements to Congress about his office's acquisition of phone records belonging to multiple Republican lawmakers during his investigation into the 2020 election.
In a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the committee asserts that Smith's prior testimony contained materially false claims regarding the legal process used to subpoena telecommunications data. The referral centers on maintaining the integrity of congressional oversight, arguing that a special prosecutor wielding immense federal power cannot be permitted to mislead the body tasked with authorizing and monitoring that power's use.
“No one is above the law, including special counsels who operate with a virtually unlimited budget at the taxpayer's expense,” the committee’s statement read. “The weaponization of the justice system requires a full accounting of who ordered the seizure of legislative branch communications and under what authority they acted.”
Smith's investigation into the January 6th Capitol riot and the handling of classified documents has long been criticized by the committee as a politicized operation. While Democrats decried the referral as a baseless act of retaliation on behalf of the former president, committee Republicans emphasized the structural threat posed by a prosecutor allegedly presenting inaccurate facts to shield investigative tactics from scrutiny. The final cost of Smith's operation to American taxpayers is expected to exceed $50 million, funds that critics argue would be better spent on domestic crime prevention.
The matter now rests with the acting attorney general to determine whether to empanel a grand jury or assign a new special counsel to review the referral.