GOP chair of House Judiciary Committee asks Justice Department to consider prosecuting Jack Smith

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday night asked the Justice Department to consider criminally charging special counsel Jack Smith, who previously prosecuted President Donald Trump, according to a letter sent to DOJ obtained by CNN. Jordan alleges Smith misled the committee in closed-door testimony late last year. Jordan's concerns are largely based around Smith's team of prosecutors obtaining text messages between Trump administration officials and members of Congress in their investigation of Trump and his top aides' response to his 2020 election loss, according to the criminal referral letter Jordan sent to DOJ. The Justice Department—with Trump's primary defense attorney at the time, Todd Blanche, now leading the department and on the verge of Senate confirmation as attorney general—has already responded that it "will investigate all evidence of criminal conduct," according to a spokesperson. The spokesperson confirmed the Department has received Jordan's referral. Jordan's criminal referral on Smith, and the Justice Department's swift response, fulfills a longtime Republican wish to investigate and potentially prosecute Smith. Trump himself has called for Smith to be jailed, especially since he earned the dismissal of the criminal charges Smith had brought against him and returned to the presidency last year. The Justice Department regularly receives criminal referrals from Congress, and the department then decides whether it merits charges or even an investigation. The current Republican-led Congress has asked the Justice Department to investigate others from the Smith investigation who haven't been charged. But the current makeup of DOJ, and the known wishes of the president to criminally pursue Smith and rewrite the findings of his investigation and the public record of January 6, 2021, make Jordan's move a notable escalation. Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, blasted the GOP move, saying in a statement, "This referral, if ever brought before a judge, will get laughed out of court. But success on the merits is not the goal. It is meant to harass Jack Smith." The Maryland Democrat added, "It is meant to whitewash their own participation in a scheme to overthrow our elections." CNN has reached out to Smith's representatives.