Jim Jordan says House weighing criminal referral of Jack Smith for allegedly lying to Congress

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith is being considered for a criminal referral to the Justice Department, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said Wednesday, as Republicans examine whether Smith misled lawmakers during testimony about his investigation into President Donald Trump.

"We're already looking at that," Jordan told "Hannity" when asked about the potential criminal referral.

"Do we need to refer him to the Justice Department, to Attorney General Blanche, for them to go ahead and move forward with prosecution? We're looking at that as we speak."

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Jordan pointed to Smith's congressional testimony regarding his office's acquisition of telephone toll records, in which Smith said investigators did not obtain the contents of communications.

"Toll records were sought for historical telephone routing information, collected after calls had taken place, identifying the incoming and outgoing call numbers, the time of the calls and their duration," Smith testified at the time. "Toll records do not include the content of calls."

Jordan argued that newly disclosed information shows Smith's team obtained and reviewed congressional text messages, which he said contradicted Smith's testimony that investigators sought only telephone toll records — not texts or the broader contents of communications.

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In December, Smith told the committee, "No, I don't recall," when asked whether he had sought a search warrant for text messages from members of Congress, and responded, "Correct," when asked whether investigators had only sought toll records.

Smith was thrust back into the spotlight Wednesday during Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing when Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed the Justice Department over newly revealed allegations regarding the Biden-era special counsel's review of lawmakers' text messages. 

Kennedy referred to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who announced Tuesday that records provided to the committee showed Smith's team obtained and reviewed text messages involving 44 current and former lawmakers as part of the Trump election probe. Kennedy was not among those on the list released by Grassley's office.

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Blanche confirmed that the DOJ is investigating.

"They got my phone logs," Jordan said.

"There were 44 members of the United States Congress — members, senators, members of the House. Even some Democrats, a handful of Democrats, were caught up in this. Again, you can't do that... it wasn't just the toll. I never forget the toll records issue," he continued.

Jordan accused Smith's team of going to "another branch of government" and obtaining the information without a warrant.

"They got it, and they didn't screen it, and then Jack Smith, under oath, says, 'No, no. We didn't get any contents.' Well, shazam, it looks like they did, and it looks like he wasn't square with us when he testified in front of our committee," he said.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., reacted similarly on Wednesday, insisting on "Hannity" that Smith should be "prosecuted."

"What did he do with the text messages? We don't know that yet. What we do know is he absolutely read them. He absolutely shared them with members of his team and all of that illegally," Hawley alleged.

"The Justice Department requires that there be screening for any members of Congress [regarding] their text messages. Jack Smith said under oath that he didn't seek the text messages of members of Congress, but in fact, we know that he did. So he lied, he violated the law, he violated the Constitution. This guy ought to be prosecuted."

Representatives for Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News' Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report.