Overview
- Former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, defending his decisions in the probes that led to indictments of President Trump but were later dismissed.
- Senate Republicans led by Chairman Chuck Grassley say Smith's team reviewed the contents of text messages from 44 lawmakers and obtained phone toll records, and they argue those actions violated constitutional protections for Congress.
- House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has formally referred Smith to the Justice Department for possible false testimony about records collection, while Smith’s lawyers say his prior answers were truthful and limited to questions about toll records.
- The Justice Department under the Trump administration is separately investigating investigators and the 2022 Mar-a-Lago search, and a federal judge has barred public disclosure of parts of Smith’s classified-documents report, limiting what he could discuss.
- The dispute raises practical and political stakes: it could trigger criminal or administrative reviews of prosecutors, intensify congressional oversight battles, and deepen divisions in how news outlets portray Smith’s conduct and the DOJ’s response.