Jim Jordan to DOJ: Hit Jack Smith for False Statements

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to investigate former special counsel Jack Smith for allegedly making false statements under oath. Jordan suggested that Smith's office had access to text messages involving members of Congress. In a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Jordan said newly obtained Justice Department records contradict testimony Smith gave during a Dec. 17, 2025, deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. "The Committee is providing this information for the DOJ to investigate a potential violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001," Jordan wrote, referring to the federal law prohibiting knowingly and willfully making materially false statements. The referral does not constitute a criminal charge, and the Justice Department will decide whether to investigate or take further action. Jordan's allegations center on Smith's testimony about records obtained during the federal investigation into President Donald Trump's efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. The investigation, code-named "Arctic Frost," later became part of Smith's special counsel probe. During his deposition, Smith was asked whether his team sought the contents of lawmakers' text messages. "No, I don't recall that," Smith answered when asked whether investigators sought a search warrant for such messages. Smith also agreed when a committee lawyer asked whether investigators obtained "just toll records," according to Jordan's letter. Smith later testified that toll-record subpoenas involving members of Congress did not include the contents of phone calls or text messages. Jordan argued those answers created the impression that Smith's office never obtained access to the contents of lawmakers' communications. According to the letter, records the committee received from DOJ on July 14 show Smith's investigators reviewed text messages exchanged between Trump White House officials and 44 members of Congress — 40 Republicans and four Democrats. Jordan said the messages were obtained from the National Archives rather than directly from telecommunications providers. Jordan argued that distinction did not excuse Smith's failure to disclose that his office had received the communications from another source. "While Mr. Smith testified that he did not seek a search warrant from telecommunications carriers for the content of Members' text messages, he failed to disclose that his office received text message content from NARA relating to White House personnel phone records," Jordan wrote. Jordan also alleged Smith's team violated DOJ procedures by allowing members of the investigative team to review potentially privileged communications before they had been screened by a filter team. Jordan argued Smith's testimony amounted to more than a technical distinction between records obtained from phone companies and messages recovered from White House devices. "A statement containing some truthful information becomes affirmatively false when it represents that the partial information is complete," Jordan wrote. Jordan said Smith was advised before the deposition that he was required to provide complete answers and could not omit information needed to prevent his testimony from becoming misleading. "In light of the new information detailing that Mr. Smith's team did have access to content of Members' text messages," Jordan wrote, Smith's testimony "suggests that he willingly and knowingly made false representations to the Committee." Jordan asked DOJ to determine whether Smith's conduct warrants prosecution under the federal false-statements statute and enclosed documents supporting the referral. Smith was appointed special counsel by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to oversee investigations involving Trump. He brought federal cases concerning the 2020 election and classified documents kept at Mar-a-Lago, but DOJ dropped the prosecutions after Trump's 2024 election victory, citing its policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Jordan has investigated Smith's office for several years and subpoenaed Smith to testify in 2025 as part of the committee's oversight of the special counsel's investigation.