Former Special Counsel Jack Smith delivered testimony Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee, defending his investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Smith asserted that he had developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in criminal activity.
The hearing marked Smith’s first public testimony since releasing a comprehensive 174-page report in January 2025. Smith testified behind closed doors in 2025, and fought to be able to testify publicly. His appearance just a year into Trump’s second term, during which the president has repeatedly attacked the former prosecutor and threatened criminal prosecution against him.
Smith told the committee that Trump was “the most culpable and most responsible person” for the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“Our investigation revealed that Donald Trump is the person who caused Jan. 6, that it was foreseeable to him and that he sought to exploit the violence,” Smith testified. “We followed the facts and we followed the law — where that led us was to an indictment of an unprecedented criminal scheme to block the peaceful transfer of power.”
Smith emphasized that the violence at the Capitol, which resulted in assaults on 140 law enforcement officers, would not have occurred without Trump’s actions.
Smith’s report and testimony outlined four main areas of criminal conduct that formed the basis for the federal indictment brought against Trump in August 2023:
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