President Donald Trump fired off at former Justice Department attorney Jack Smith Tuesday following reports that he had monitored the communications of Republican lawmakers during his investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “A real sleazebag!!!”
Smith served as assistant U.S. attorney under the Biden administration’s DOJ, and in 2022, was tasked with investigating Trump for both his role in the Capitol riot and his mishandling of classified documents. As part of that investigation, Smith obtained the phone records of nine GOP lawmakers, according to a report from Senate Republicans shared Monday.
“There’s no predicate that we can find for the solicitation of these telephone records, which I think emphasizes the political weaponization that was behind all this effort, and we’re still getting more information,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaking with reporters on Monday, CNN reported.
Trump has made clear his intention to seek retribution for those who sought to prosecute him for various crimes, perhaps most notably with his recent calls for former FBI Director James Comey to be prosecuted, a call that was answered by Attorney General Pam Bondi just days later by indicting Comey for obstruction of justice.