House GOP Releases Smith Transcript Blaming Trump for Jan. 6

A transcript released by House Republicans reveals that former special counsel Jack Smith told a congressional committee in December that then-President Donald Trump bore central responsibility for the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, describing his actions as foundational to the violence. The document, from a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee on December 17, underscores Smith's defense of his now-dismissed federal prosecutions against Trump, which accused him of spreading false claims about the 2020 election and pressuring officials and supporters in the lead-up to the riot.

Smith, who led the Justice Department's investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the election results and his handling of classified documents, spent over eight hours rebutting Republican criticisms during the session. He maintained that his team had developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to prevent the lawful transfer of power. "The attack that happened at the Capitol does not happen without him," Smith stated in the transcript, emphasizing that Trump's repeated assertions of a stolen election and calls for supporters to...