Smith Says Trump Prosecution Decisions Were Independent

Former special counsel Jack Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he made the decisions to prosecute Donald Trump independently, while saying he did not know whether former Attorney General Merrick Garland discussed the cases with President Joe Biden or White House officials. Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, pressed Smith on whether the Biden administration influenced the investigations and on the subpoenas for congressional phone records. The hearing also featured a contentious exchange over whether investigators followed proper procedures in seeking records and nondisclosure orders. Kennedy asked whether Smith had sought toll records, which do not include the content of calls, from Republican senators. Smith said investigators sought non-content records relevant to the investigation. When Kennedy argued that the requests violated the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, Smith said that was incorrect and that investigators sought to comply with the law. Kennedy also challenged Smith over whether he told a judge that investigators were seeking lawmakers’ records.