House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance Chair Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., are demanding information from special counsel Jack Smith concerning his investigation into former President Donald Trump.
Jordan and Biggs, in a letter Thursday to Smith, said they have concerns about his "commitment to evenhanded justice" and told him he has a "record of attempting to criminalize political discourse" as evidenced by his reported interest in how the Justice Department could "prosecute conservative tax-exempt groups engaging in constitutionally protected political speech."
A statement concerning the letter said the Judiciary Committee is seeking communications and other information about the "unprecedented investigation and prosecution" of Trump, "President [Joe] Biden's chief opponent in the upcoming presidential election."
The committee is conducting oversight, the announcement said, to "inform potential legislative reforms" concerning politically motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents.
"If the Department of Justice continues stonewalling the investigation, the Committee may be forced to resort to compulsory process," the statement continued.
Jordan and Biggs further wrote in their letter that they had recently learned that Smith obtained from X, formerly Twitter, "voluminous amounts of private information — including core political speech — of millions of Americans, without an apparent specialized nexus to criminal activity."
The letter demands that Smith's office produce key pieces of information:
- All documents and communications between or among the Office of Special Counsel, the Office of the Attorney General, or the Office of the Deputy Attorney General referring to the investigation and prosecution of Trump.
- All documents needed to identify current and former office of special counsel members and staff, including salaries, travel costs, and trips related to the investigation, and the office's organizational structure.
- Documents and communication concerning the hiring and selection of office staff members, including job posting, hiring criteria, and communications.
- Communications about the warrant used to obtain information held by Twitter.
The lawmakers demanded that the materials, as well as other materials sought in letters on June 1, June 6, and Sept. 7, be provided no later than Jan. 4 and threatened that if they are not, "the Committee may resort to compulsory process."
Trump was indicted in August on charges involving alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Jordan/Biggs letter comes after Trump slammed Smith for a "Hail Mary" move last week when the special counsel asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a quick ruling on whether the former president can be prosecuted on the election charges.
The court has agreed to take up the Smith petition and has directed Trump's team to submit a response by Dec. 20, but made it clear that its response "does not mean the court will take up the case — only that it will consider the request in an expedited fashion."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.