Former special counsel Jack Smith is facing a criminal referral filed Wednesday over allegations that he misled House lawmakers about the Biden-era probe into President Trump.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked the Justice Department to review the matter, arguing that newly released records appear to conflict with Smith’s testimony that he did not obtain or examine lawmakers’ text messages while investigating Trump’s alleged attempts to interfere with the 2020 election.
“The Committee on the Judiciary writes to refer strong evidence that appears to show Jack Smith, former Special Counsel, knowingly made false statements during his December 17, 2025, deposition,” Jordan wrote in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, obtained by The Post.
“While testifying under oath, Mr. Smith seemingly made willfully and intentionally false statements of material fact that contradict new documents obtained by the Committee from the Department of Justice (DOJ),” Jordan continued. “The Committee is providing this information for the DOJ to investigate a potential violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.”
At the deposition, Smith was asked whether he had pursued a “search warrant for the content of any text messages” belonging to members of Congress.
“No, I don’t recall that,” Smith answered, saying he had obtained only lawmaker toll records — data showing calls made and received and when text messages were sent, but not the substance of those messages.
Jordan said Smith’s testimony “gave the impression that neither Mr. Smith nor his team had access to the content of Members’ privileged text messages.”
“We now know this to be false,” the Ohio Republican wrote.
Jordan cited DOJ records released to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last week that showed more than 40 members of Congress had their text messages viewed by Smith’s team.
The DOJ informed Grassley that Smith’s team “directly accessed” text messages between lawmakers and White House employees – sent between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021 – after a “Filter Team” set up by the special counsel’s office to ensure investigators weren’t accessing privileged documents or violating officials’ constitutional rights was “bypassed.”
“Based on this new information, there is cause for investigation to determine whether Mr. Smith knowingly made false statements to obstruct the Committee’s oversight,” Jordan wrote.
The chairman argued that Smith’s conduct “can only be understood as an effort to thwart the Committee’s inquiry by intentionally making false statements and representations before Congress.”
“We therefore believe that sufficient evidence exists for DOJ to examine whether Mr. Smith’s actions warrant a charge.”
The DOJ and Smith’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
