Jack Smith subpoenaed for closed-door testimony before House committee in probe of Trump prosecutions

Washington — Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a subpoena Wednesday to former special counsel Jack Smith as part of the committee’s probe into the federal prosecutions of President Trump.

Jordan wrote in a letter to Smith and his lawyers that the panel wants him to answer questions from House investigators at a closed-door deposition on Dec. 17 and requested documents that must be turned over by Dec. 12. It’s unclear what records Jordan, an Ohio Republican, is seeking from Smith.

“The Committee on the Judiciary is continuing to conduct oversight of the operations of the Office of Special Counsel you led — specifically, your team’s prosecutions of President Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants,” he wrote. “Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter.”

Peter Koski, a lawyer for Smith, indicated that the former special counsel will comply with Jordan’s subpoena. He noted that the former special counsel had offered back in October to voluntarily answer questions in an open hearing before the Judiciary Committee about the investigations involving Mr. Trump.

“We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics,” he said. “Jack looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation.”

The GOP-led Judiciary Committee is investigating what it claims were the “politically motivated” prosecutions of Mr. Trump, which were led by Smith. The president was indicted on more than 40 federal charges in two separate cases. The first alleged he unlawfully held onto government documents marked classified after leaving the White House in 2021, and the second stemmed from his alleged efforts to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election.

The president has long denied wrongdoing and claimed Smith’s investigations were politically motivated “witch hunts” that intended to harm his candidacy for the White House.

Both cases were brought to an end after Mr. Trump won a second term in November 2024.

Still, with the president back in office and Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, Smith has become a subject of investigations from GOP lawyers and the Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that is unrelated to Smith’s former position as special counsel. Mr. Trump has also continued to attack Smith, calling him “deranged” and a “criminal.”

His lawyers called the ethics probe by the Office of the Special Counsel “imaginary and unfounded.”