Former Department of Justice Prosecutor Jack Smith, who was in charge of bringing the cases against convicted felon/sexual abuser/President Trump for inciting the January 6 insurrection and stealing top secret classified documents when he left office, was deposed for over 8 hours by the House Judiciary Committee on December 17. The Judiciary Committee, which is currently dominated by Republicans and chaired by hard right Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, released the video and transcripts of Smith’s deposition about the cases on New Year’s Eve, apparently hoping few would notice it.
Today I’m providing easy access to Mr. Smith’s entire testimony, and excerpts from it, so people can easily absorb it.
The text of Mr. Smith’s testimony is 255 pages long and can be found here. The full video is online and a link to it (without ads) can be found here. If you can’t watch the whole thing, it is recommended that everyone watch at least the first hour of it.
Smith told the committee he developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.” (Page 17, at Line 11)
Smith added that his team “also developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom. (Page 17, Line 14)
Smith also said that Trump “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”
Trump has called the January 6 insurrection, which resulted in more than 140 Capitol Police officers being injured defending the Capitol and lawmakers from the rioters, “a day of love.” Trump gave full pardons to more than 1,500 violent January 6 Capitol rioters immediately upon being sworn in the second time, turning them loose on the country.
Smith also stated that Trump was “by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy” to overthrow the election.
Here are some key excerpts highlighted from the transcript of Smith’s deposition:
Everyone should also watch the movie Nuremberg, it is very powerful!
Jack Smith a great hero, speaking truth to soul less sycophants. It was enjoyable to see his integrity and legal mastery.
I saw Nuremberg for just this reason. To remind myself of the way in which Hitler and his henchmen accomplished such a takeover of Germany. It’s chilling to see the similarities in today’s Trump regime.