Former special counsel Jack Smith made major admissions during his public testimony Thursday, including about former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s credibility as a witness.
Republicans grilled Smith on everything from search warrants he obtained for members of Congress’ phone records to his litigation decisions, while Democrats told Smith he did “everything right.”
Smith secured two indictments charging President Donald Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election and for alleged mishandling of classified documents. Despite his best efforts to secure a trial before the election, he was forced to drop both cases after Trump won in 2024.
“If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican,” Smith said. “No one should be above the law in this country and the law required that he [Trump] be held to account.”
1. Cassidy Hutchinson wasn’t ruled out as a witness.
Smith admitted both on Thursday and in prior closed-door testimony that elements of former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony, such as her claim that Trump lunged to grab the car’s steering wheel, were based on “hearsay.” Yet Smith didn’t rule out calling her as a witness.
Hutchinson was a key witness for the Jan. 6 committee.
“Were you going to put her on the witness stand if you ever got to trial?” Jordan asked.
“We had not made final determinations as to who we were going to call as a witness,” Smith replied.
“That’s the point,” Jordan said. “You didn’t rule out using her, or putting her on the witness stand, when everybody knows she wasn’t telling the truth. That says it all.”
Exchange between Rep. @Jim_Jordan and Jack Smith about accounts given by former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson. pic.twitter.com/EHfx8AgeY9
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 22, 2026
2. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy posed no risk that warranted hiding subpoenas for his phone records.
During an exchange with Republican Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, Smith agreed former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was not a “flight risk.” This is one justification for a nondisclosure order, which Smith obtained to keep his request for nearly three months worth of McCarthy’s toll records secret.
Smith sought toll records, which included “detail records for inbound and outbound calls, text messages, direct connect, and voicemail messages” but not the content of those messages, for more than a dozen Republican members of Congress. Verizon complied with the subpoenas, though AT&T did not.
“Sixteen days after becoming the highest ranking Republican in the house of representatives, you subpoenaed his toll records,” Gill said. “Do you agree that might reasonably be considered a violation of the speech or debate clause?”
Smith said he does not. He noted the risks that lead to securing a nondisclosure order “aren’t necessarily associated with the subscriber to the phone, they’re the risks of the investigation.”
“As Speaker of the House, I had a 24/7 security detail and my location was known to the government at all times,” McCarthy wrote on X. “Flight risk? Another of Jack Smith’s many lies.”
The judge who approved the nondisclosure order did not have McCarthy’s name, Smith also confirmed.
Jack Smith really thinks Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker of the House, was a “flight risk.”
Give me a break.
WATCH @RepBrandonGill rip into Jack Smith, catching him in a blatant lie. pic.twitter.com/ANSSvMsuy7
— House Judiciary GOP
(@JudiciaryGOP) January 22, 2026
3. Smith doesn’t know how much money went to confidential human sources.
Jordan asked Smith how much of the $35 million he used to prosecute Trump went towards paying confidential human sources.
Smith said he didn’t know the identity of a confidential human source who was paid $20,000, payment documents the FBI turned over to Congress in early January revealed. FBI Director Kash Patel called the payment “weaponization” on Jan. 10.
“How many other payments went to this source or other sources?” Jordan said.
“As I sit here, I do not know the answer to that question,” Smith said.
.@Jim_Jordan: “How much of that $35 million of tax payer money did you give to confidential human sources? We know you gave $20,000 to someone…?
Jack Smith: “It was me approving a payment by the FBI to a confidential human source…I do not know the identity of the source.” pic.twitter.com/Z5Ew5TbgYK
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 22, 2026
4. Smith doesn’t remember who swore him in.
Smith was unable to recall who swore him into office, which Republican Texas Rep. Lance Gooden said strikes him as “odd.”
“Attorney General Garland had you retake the oath of office,” Gooden said. “Why did he make you do that?
“As I sit here right now, I do not recall,” he said. “I know that there is the oath of office that I signed, I believe it was on the 18th, the day I was appointed, and I know the department had me do a second one.”
Gooden noted there was “no witness” for the first time he took the oath of office.
Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case in July 2024 after finding Smith, as a private citizen who was not nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, was unlawfully appointed. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith on November 18, 2022.
In November 2022, Jack Smith was sworn in as Special Counsel.
Eleven months later, Merrick Garland administered a second oath.
Was Jack an illegitimate prosecutor during those first 11 months? Americans deserve to know. pic.twitter.com/BXKdAO26fU
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) January 22, 2026
‘Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Practice Law’
Smith maintained he had “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” showing Trump committed “serious crimes.” He stated at one point he believes Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) will do “everything in their power” to find a way to indict him.
Trump called Smith on Tuesday a “deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice law.”
“Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done, including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me,” he posted on Truth Social.
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