House committee urges DOJ to charge former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith
The GOP chair of the House Judiciary Committee encouraged the DOJ to look into criminally charging Jack Smith, alleging the former special counsel who brought charges against President Trump lied to Congress.
Updated on: July 22, 2026 / 11:51 PM EDT / CBS News
The criminal referral Wednesday from Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio stems from last year's revelation that investigators obtained several Republican lawmakers' phone records as part of a probe into Mr. Trump's actions after the 2020 election. In a deposition last year, Smith testified that his team didn't receive the contents of any phone calls or text messages since the records sought were "tolling records," which only include details like the numbers a person called.
But last week, the Justice Department told lawmakers that in a separate subpoena for records held by the National Archives and Records Administration, Smith's team obtained text messages between Trump-era White House staffers and dozens of members of Congress.
In light of that information, Jordan accused Smith of making "materially false statements" and said he improperly "failed to disclose" the subpoena to the National Archives.
"All individuals have an obligation to comply with a duly authorized congressional inquiry. Mr. Smith, a former public servant, is no different," Jordan wrote. "Yet his testimony included intentionally false statements designed to obstruct the Committee's oversight."