Two prosecutors who pursued cases against President Donald Trump doubled down on defending their efforts before lawmakers on Wednesday.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sat for questioning by a Georgia state Senate committee, while former special counsel Jack Smith gave closed-door testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.
Willis avoided many questions during her testimony, at times calling lawmakers’ inquiries a “damn joke” and “dumbass question.” During one exchange probing how much she paid her boyfriend, Nathan Wade, to work on the Trump case, she told lawmakers they should investigate how many times she has been called “the N-word” if they need something to look into.
She could not answer a question about how much money her office spent on the 2020 election case against Trump and his co-defendants, which was officially dismissed in November after languishing for nearly two years amid litigation over her disqualification.
“Whatever it cost, they tried to steal the rights of thousands of Georgians,” she said. “It couldn’t have been enough.”
Willis initially paid Wade a higher rate than other special prosecutors working on the case, contracts first obtained by the DCNF revealed.
NEW: Fani Willis *COMES APART AT SEAMS* as she accuses GA State Senate Committee of “TRYING TO INTIMIDATE [HER]”
“You think that you’re going to intimidate me! You all have been trying to intimidate me for 5 years — which is why I have not been able to live in my house for 5… pic.twitter.com/ayPtVsbqUM
— Jason Cohen
NEW: Fani Willis *COMES APART AT SEAMS* as she accuses GA State Senate Committee of “TRYING TO INTIMIDATE [HER]”
(@JasonJournoDC) Willis also faced a question about how tracking the earned media value for her title and name could be relevant to her job. Just days before announcing the Trump probe, she paid for a service to monitor her media coverage, the DCNF first reported.
“It continues to be very important to me that we are very transparent with our public about what we’re doing,” she said, stating the first time people get to know her “shouldn’t be when I’m locking up their nephew.”
Jack Smith On Defense
“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,” Smith said during his opening statement, according to several reports.
One man asked: “Why do you think many people out there call you Jack*ss Smith, sir?” pic.twitter.com/kV660i1dRa
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 17, 2025
Smith addressed both his classified documents case and the 2020 election case against Trump. He defended his decision to secretly subpoena Republican lawmakers’ cell phone data as part of the “Arctic Frost” probe, stating they were “lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant to complete a comprehensive investigation,” according to CBS News.
Lanny Breuer, one of Smith’s attorneys, said his client was “showing tremendous courage in light of the remarkable and unprecedented retribution campaign against him by this administration and this White House” in a statement to reporters.
Smith’s lawyers did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. Smith will soon launch his own law firm with other former prosecutors who helped him target Trump.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley announced plans Dec. 8 to hold public hearings in the new year on the Arctic Frost probe, which he has called a “runaway train that swept up information from hundreds of innocent people simply because of their political affiliation.”
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