Jack Smith, the former special counsel, finds himself in a legal quandary following a criminal referral issued on Wednesday. The referral accuses Smith of potentially misleading members of the House regarding his investigation under the Biden administration, which was centered around President Trump.
Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has brought this matter to the attention of the Justice Department. Jordan claims that new records contradict Smith’s previous testimony. Smith had assured the committee that he neither obtained nor reviewed text messages from lawmakers while his team probed into Trump’s alleged actions to disrupt the 2020 Presidential Election.
In a letter directed at acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, which The Post accessed, Jordan stated, “The Committee on the Judiciary submits evidence that suggests former Special Counsel Jack Smith may have intentionally provided false testimony during his deposition on December 17, 2025.”
Jordan further expressed concerns in his letter, insisting, “Under oath, Mr. Smith appears to have made knowingly false statements of significant fact, as exposed by newly obtained documents from the Department of Justice. The Committee is relaying this information for the DOJ’s consideration of a potential breach of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.”
Smith, during his deposition, faced questions regarding whether he sought a “search warrant for the content of any text messages” belonging to Congressional members.
“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.