Trump nemesis Jack Smith accused of lying to Congress in criminal referral to the Justice Department

By WILKO MARTÍNEZ-CACHERO, US REPORTER Published: 07:18, 23 July 2026 | Updated: 07:27, 23 July 2026 Trump foe and former special counsel Jack Smith has been accused of misleading Congress, which could result in criminal charges from the Department of Justice. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, sent the Justice Department a criminal referral letter on Wednesday. In the letter to Acting United States Attorney General Todd Blanche, Jordan alleged that Smith 'seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact' while testifying under oath on December 17. Smith previously prosecuted President Donald Trump for his response to the 2020 presidential election. Jordan accused Smith of conducting himself in a way that 'can only be understood as an effort to thwart the Committee's inquiry by intentionally making false statements and representations before Congress.' 'All individuals have an obligation to comply with a duly authorized congressional inquiry,' he wrote. 'Mr. Smith, a former public servant, is no different.' The Justice Department said that it 'will investigate all evidence of criminal conduct,' according to CNN. The department has received Jordan's referral, the outlet reported. Former special counsel Jack Smith (above) was referred to the Department of Justice for criminal charges on Wednesday Smith prosecuted President Donald Trump after the 2020 presidential election, but both of his cases ended without charges in 2024 In the letter, Jordan accused Smith of not being truthful when asked if he ever received or reviewed text messages from Congress members. Jordan wrote that Smith 'likely circumvented key constitutional protections' in order to 'spy' on members of Congress. He alleged that documents from the Justice Department produced on July 14 to the House Judiciary Committee revealed Smith's team had 'obtained text messages' of 44 Congress members. According to Jordan, this implicated 'both Republicans and Democrats in both chambers.' Jordan wrote that this new information urged for an investigation to determine if Smith had made false statements. 'The responses provided by Mr. Smith gave the impression that neither Mr. Smith nor his team had access to the content of Members' privileged text messages,' Jordan wrote. He added: 'We now know this to be false.' Blanche, the acting AG who the letter was directed to, led Trump's criminal defense team in the two federal cases brought by Smith. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan alleged that Smith 'seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact' while testifying under oath Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, accused Smith of not being truthful about whether he had received or reviewed Congress members' text messages During his testimony in December, Smith was asked: 'Did the toll records that you requested from the Senators, did they include the content of the phone calls?' Toll records refer to the communication metadata of calls and texts, but without the actual content of said communications. 'No,' Smith responded, according to transcript of the testimony quoted in the letter. Smith was then asked in a follow-up: 'Did the records that you requested, the toll records from the Member of Congress, include the content of text messages?' Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released documents showing that Smith's team had read the text messages of 44 members of Congress from both parties and White House staff during its investigation. Jordan and Grassley were on the list, as were the likes of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, then-New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, then-Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie or then-California Rep. Karen Bass. Trump officials that were affected by the special counsel's behavior allegedly included Ivanka Trump, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway and Mike Pence. Grassley said the special counsel's office had subpoenaed the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to provide all text messages from October 2020 through January 20, 2021. Smith said earlier this year that he believed the Justice Department 'will do everything in their power' to indict him 'because they have been ordered to by the president' Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released documents last week which said that Smith's team had read the text messages of 44 Congress members Smith has accused Jordan and Republicans of taking his answers out of context in an attempt to further scrutinize him. Both of his cases against Trump ended without charges in 2024. His attorneys, Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, have said Jordan's referral was based on a 'spurious claim,' according to the letter obtained by Axios. 'The referral is made not because Mr. Smith made a false statement—the letter concedes he did not—but because he did not proactively disclose information that was not responsive to a question asked,' Smith's attorneys wrote. The letter claimed that Smith had 'provided truthful, responsive answers and candidly discussed his work as Special Counsel' during his testimony. 'This referral reflects a chilling eagerness to weaponize the justice system by attacking a career, nonpartisan public servant who faithfully and fearlessly performed his duties by following the facts and the law,' the statement continued. Earlier this year, Smith said that he believed he would be indicted by the Justice Department, according to Axios. 'I believe they will do everything in their power to do that because they have been ordered to by the president,' Smith said during congressional testimony in January. The Daily Mail has reached out to the DOJ and Smith's attorneys, Koski and Breuer, for comment.