Jack Smith Ambushed By Fox News Reporter As He Arrived On Capitol Hill
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith quietly appeared on Capitol Hill Wednesday for closed-door testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, as Republicans intensify their probe into what they argue was a coordinated effort to weaponize the federal justice system against President Donald J. Trump.
Smith was summoned by GOP lawmakers examining what they describe as partisan, politically driven prosecutions aimed at derailing Trump’s political career. The former special counsel offered no public remarks upon arrival and declined to engage with reporters outside the Capitol.
Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin attempted to question Smith directly.
“Do you have any regrets about the way your prosecutions with the president were handled? What do you plan to tell the committee?” Melugin asked.
Smith ignored the inquiry, as well as questions from other journalists. At one point, a bystander audibly called out, “How about you respond, Jack!”
Inside the closed-door session, however, Smith reportedly defended his actions against the then-former president, maintaining that responsibility rested entirely with Trump.
“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, according to CNN.
Smith was appointed special counsel in 2022 by then–Attorney General Merrick Garland, who served under Joe Biden, just one day after Trump announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election—raising immediate concerns about political timing and prosecutorial neutrality. Months later, in August 2022, Biden authorized a dramatic FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, with agents reportedly arriving armed with assault weapons.
In June 2023, Smith brought 37 federal charges against Trump in Miami related to the handling of presidential records stored at Mar-a-Lago, a property secured by the U.S. Secret Service. Those charges included 31 counts under the Espionage Act for alleged willful retention of national defense information, along with six additional process-related offenses tied to communications with Trump’s attorney.
Smith also pursued a separate case in Washington, D.C., charging Trump with four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Both cases ultimately collapsed. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case last summer, citing constitutional concerns surrounding Smith’s appointment and funding. The Washington, D.C., case was later dismissed following Trump’s decisive victory in the 2024 presidential election, which returned him to the White House for a second term.
Republican lawmakers have since escalated their scrutiny of Smith’s conduct. In October, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee—joined by several GOP senators and one House member—sent a formal referral letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting investigations by the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility and two state bar associations. The letter accuses Smith of serious ethical violations that could justify disbarment, The New York Post reported.
“As part of Jack Smith’s weaponized witch hunt, the Biden DOJ issued subpoenas to several telecommunications companies in 2023 regarding our cell phone records, gaining access to the time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed on our devices from January 4, 2021, to January 7, 2021,” the letter stated. “We have yet to learn of any legal predicate for the Biden Department of Justice issuing subpoenas to obtain these cell phone records.”
The referral follows reports that Smith’s office conducted surveillance on Republican members of Congress during the same period using a technique known as toll analysis, which allows investigators to collect call metadata—including duration, recipient, and location—from personal devices.
According to lawmakers, those members were neither informed nor consented to the collection of their private communications.
In addition to Blackburn, the letter was signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham, Tommy Tuberville, Dan Sullivan, Ron Johnson, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, and Cynthia Lummis, along with Rep. Mike Kelly. The group is demanding a full DOJ investigation and disciplinary action by both the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility and the New York Attorney Grievance Committee, where Smith is licensed to practice law.