Former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers Wednesday in a closed door hearing that investigators had "developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that President Donald Trump had conspired to overturn the 2020 election results.
Portions of Smith's opening statement during the private meeting were obtained by the Associated Press.
Smith told lawmakers that his team of investigators had "powerful evidence" that the Trump was hoarding classified documents from his first presidential term inside his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. He explained that Trump was attempting to obstruct investigators as they worked to find the records.
“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith said. “We took actions based on what the facts and the law required — the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor.”
Smith was asked if he would also prosecute a Democrat and he said he would “prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat."
Smith no longer works for the U.S. government and had previously asked to testify in public.
He is not expected to answer questions publicly due to strict secrecy rules, according to The Washington Post.
The move was "aiming to dispel Republican efforts to frame his federal prosecutions of President Donald Trump as unjust and political," The Post reported.
