Former special counsel Jack Smith faced an unusual line of questioning from Republican Sen. John Kennedy on Tuesday, who asked whether Smith believed in the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny before declaring, “You make me want to throw up in my mouth.”
The bizarre exchange brought an otherwise familiar partisan hearing to a jarring close. Kennedy questioned Smith, the former special counsel who investigated Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
The Louisiana Republican had initially focused on communications between former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former President Joe Biden concerning prosecutorial decisions made by Smith and his investigative team.
Smith said he had “absolutely no idea” what Garland may have told Biden. He emphasized that his responsibility as special counsel was “to make an independent decision” and relay that decision to Garland.
Kennedy then abandoned the more conventional questioning and launched into a series of deliberately absurd questions about fictional characters. The comparison appeared intended to portray Smith’s account of what Garland might have told Biden as implausibly naive—akin to believing in Santa Claus.
“Do you believe in the tooth fairy?” Kennedy asked.
“I do not,” Smith replied.
“How about the Easter bunny?” Kennedy followed.
“I no longer believe in the Easter Bunny,” Smith answered.
Kennedy next asked whether Smith had studied constitutional law at Harvard or had instead been “in the quad playing frisbee” while the class was being taught.
Before Smith could finish responding, Kennedy shifted to questions about tolling records that Smith and his team had sought for certain members of Congress.
As Smith began to answer, Kennedy cut him off. The senator was nearing the end of his allotted 10 minutes.
“You make me want to throw up in my mouth,” Kennedy said.
Former special counsel Jack Smith arrives for testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill. During the hearing, he questioned Smith about the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny before telling him, “You make me want to throw up in my mouth.”
President Donald Trump makes an announcement from the Oval Office at the White House.
The exchange underscored the sharp contrast that defined Tuesday’s testimony from former special counsel Jack Smith.
In his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Smith said his team had “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump “engaged in serious crimes against our nation.”
“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump,” Smith told lawmakers.
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Smith said those decisions were made “without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.”
The hearing comes as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and other Republicans have accused Smith and his team of casting an ‘unjustifiably’ broad net in their investigation, centered on Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, and the President’s retention of classified documents after he left the White House.
Smith was appointed as special counsel in 2022 and stepped down shortly after Trump’s reelection to a second presidential term in 2024.
In prepared opening remarks, Grassley argued that Smith’s election probe went ‘far’ beyond Trump’s attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking Democrat Senator Dick Durbin appear at a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill
Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, DC
Jack Smith, former special counsel at the Justice Department, looks on ahead of his testimony before a Senate Judiciary Committee
Grassley argued Smith sought phone toll records for 16 members of Congress and obtained the contents of messages involving 44 lawmakers through records from Trump White House phones.
He argued that Smith sought to ‘map out the Republican apparatus’ by subpoenaing records from Republican groups and obtaining communications involving members of Congress.
Toll records show details such as when calls took place and which numbers were involved, but do not reveal conversations.
The Iowa Republican argued that investigators failed to screen the separate messages for material protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
Smith, for his part, has insisted their work was carried out in line with DOJ policy and was not influenced by politics.
Smith, for his part, has defended the special counsel’s work and argued that lawmakers’ phone records were relevant to the special counsel’s probe into efforts aimed at stopping certification of the 2020 election results.
The committee’s top Democrat, meanwhile, argued Smith was acting well within his authority as special counsel in probing Trump’s misconduct.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said that Trump, in the weeks following the 2020 election, ‘demonstrated a wanton disdain for the laws of the United States, the will of the people, and our national security.’
‘Malfeasance by government officials is sadly not a new phenomenon,’ Durbin said.
‘But President Trump’s misconduct was egregious, differing in kind and scale from what we had seen by any president before him.’
‘I hope that that never happened before in American history, and I hope it never happens again,’ Durbin said.
This is a developing news story. Check back soon for updates.
