politics • Dec. 18, 2025

Jack Smith tells lawmakers his team developed ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ against Trump

Former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers in a closed-door House Judiciary Committee deposition that his team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump criminally conspired to overturn the 2020 election and broke federal laws on classified documents, defending his prosecutorial decisions as grounded in evidence and law

Former Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations into President Donald Trump during a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee, telling lawmakers that his team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump criminally conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election and that there was “powerful evidence” he unlawfully retained classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructed efforts to recover them, noting that his decisions were driven solely by facts and the law rather than Trump’s political association or candidacy and emphasizing that he would make the same prosecutorial choices regardless of party, a stance that has ignited partisan debate on Capitol Hill as Republicans subpoenaed him as part of their inquiry into his work as special counsel while Democrats are calling for his testimony and full reports to be made public to allow the American people to see the underlying evidence and legal reasoning, underscoring the continued national controversy over Trump’s actions after the 2020 election and the role of the Justice Department in holding powerful figures accountable.