'Republicans have a lot to lose': Ex-prosecutor reveals how Jack Smith could embarrass GOP
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Special counsel Jack Smith in June 2023 (Creative Commons)
Former Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith recently said he'd be willing to answer House Republicans' call to testify before the Judiciary Committee – but only if it were viewable by the public. One former prosecutor is now arguing why Smith is "smart" to insist on public testimony.
During a Thursday segment with MSNBC host Jen Psaki, Andrew Wiessmann – who was a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York – recounted his recent interview with Smith, in which the former special counsel elaborated on his reasoning for insisting on a public testimony. And he remarked that the American public has yet to see Smith speak in a high-profile public forum.
"If you remember when he was the special counsel, he followed the sort of traditional Department of Justice model,which was only speaking when he announced an indictment. And otherwise, the speaking was in courtthrough filings," Weissmann said. "And that left Donald Trump and others to vilify him and to portray him in a certain light that wasquite negative. And I think it's just really smart for people to go outthere, including Jack Smith, so that the public can makeup their own mind based on thesubstance of what he has to say."
Republicans have lately been accusing Smith of "tapping" their phones, after reports came out that his investigators working on the January 6 case had accessed the phone records of several sitting Republican lawmakers. Smith's attorneys pointed out that investigators only had access to times and dates of phone calls, and weren't privy to the actual content of those calls. Weissmann observed that former DOJ special counsel Robert Hur, who investigated then-President Joe Biden in 2024, got similar data from Biden's phone. He used that example to note that Smith could publicly debunk that argument and several other arguments Republicans have made about the supposed political nature of Smith's investigations into President Donald Trump.
"Hecould address a lot of issuesdealing with, for instance,selective prosecution and sortof what the predicate facts are.So I think that the Republicanswould have a lot to lose bycalling him," Weissmann said. "On the other hand,they are the ones who extendedthat invitation ... If they back off now, it willbe quite fascinating because itwill really show that this was just aneffort to create asort of perjury trap."
"This isbasically saying, you know what?I'm willing to take that risk,but I'm only going to take thatrisk if there is the public cansee it. And I just I just thinkthat is so smart," he added.
Watch the segment below: