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Former special counsel Jack Smith was hit with a criminal referral Wednesday for allegedly misleading House lawmakers about the Biden-era investigation into President Trump.
In his complaint to the Justice Department, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) contended that newly released records appear to contradict Smith’s testimony to the panel that he did not obtain or review text messages from lawmakers as his team looked into Trump’s alleged efforts to interfere in the 2020 election.
“The Committee on the Judiciary writes to refer strong evidence that appears to show Jack Smith, former Special Counsel, knowingly made false statements during his December 17, 2025, deposition,” Jordan wrote in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, obtained by The Post.
“While testifying under oath, Mr. Smith seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact that contradict new documents obtained by the Committee from the Department of Justice (DOJ),” Jordan continued. “The Committee is providing this information for the DOJ to investigate a potential violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.”
During his deposition, Smith was asked if he sought a “search warrant for the content of any text messages” from members of Congress.
“No, I don’t recall that,” the former special counsel responded, maintaining that he only obtained lawmaker toll records, which include information about calls made and received and when text messages were transmitted but not their content.
Jordan argued that the former special counsel’s responses “gave the impression that neither Mr. Smith nor his team had access to the content of Members’ privileged text messages.”
“We now know this to be false,” the Ohio Republican stated.
Jordan cited DOJ records released to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last week that showed more than 40 members of Congress had their text messages viewed by Smith’s team.
The DOJ informed Grassley that Smith’s team “directly accessed” text messages between lawmakers and White House employees – sent between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021 – after a “Filter Team” set up by the special counsel’s office to ensure investigators weren’t accessing privileged documents or violating officials’ constitutional rights was “bypassed.”
“Based on this new information, there is cause for investigation to determine whether Mr. Smith knowingly made false statements to obstruct the Committee’s oversight,” Jordan wrote.
The chairman argued that Smith’s conduct “can only be understood as an effort to thwart the Committee’s inquiry by intentionally making false statements and representations before Congress.”
“We therefore believe that sufficient evidence exists for DOJ to examine whether Mr. Smith’s actions warrant a charge.”
The DOJ and Smith’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
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