Jordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) late Wednesday recommended criminal charges against former special counsel Jack Smith, pushing to tee up a prosecution of the man that led the criminal cases against President Trump. A copy of the referral obtained by The Hill accused Smith of making false statements to Congress when he was deposed late last year about his investigation and prosecution of Trump. The letter from Jordan accuses Smith of lying to the committee when asked if he ever subpoenaed the text messages of members of Congress. "This information calls into question the completeness and accuracy of statements that Mr. Smith made under oath to the Committee regarding his team's access to the content of Members' text messages," Jordan wrote to the Justice Department. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) swiftly accused Jordan of distorting the facts, saying Smith did not subpoena members' text messages but rather compelled the National Archives to turn over the communications of White House staff. It was those White House phone records – required to be preserved under law – that revealed text conversations with 44 members of Congress. "With today's referral of Jack Smith to DOJ, Chairman Jordan and the Republican Congress have embarrassed themselves again in this investigation. Jack Smith was clear and consistent in his testimony, and he told the truth. When asked if his subpoena for Members' toll records sought the content of either Member's phone calls or messages, he truthfully replied that they did not. That statement was true when he said it, and it is true today. "It seems Republican Members of Congress are lashing out because they just realized their communications with the White House became presidential records preserved at the National Archives as required by the Presidential Records Act (PRA). This referral deliberately distorts and misstates the facts, including what questions the Republicans actually asked at Mr. Smith's interview."