CNN host Boris Sanchez and US Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) on CNN on December 17, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via CNN / YouTube)
Former Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith forcefully defended his criminal investigation of President Donald Trump in his Wednesday opening statement before Congress, though one Republican member of the House of Representatives was slow to answer questions about Smith's probe into lawmakers.
Committee member Rep. Ben Cline, (R-Va.) refused to answer questions regarding Smith’s investigation of members of Congress caught up in the investigation during a Wednesday interview with CNN host Boris Sanchez. Cline argued the special counsel and his team were spying on lawmakers by investigating conversations the president and his allies had with members of Congress at the time Trump’s was attempting to delay the certification of the Electoral College vote in Congress. Smith and his team collected phone numbers in the days of early January 2021.
“I believe that the copying, the taking of those numbers, the monitoring of those conversations was a violation not only of speech and debate clause, but also of the separation of powers. And so we do have issues with the methods in which Jack Smith underwent his investigation,” Cline said in the segment “We believe that he violated the norms and procedures of the department of justice, as well as potentially the laws in the Constitution of the United States.”
“But if days before that, you had the president of the United States … on tape suggesting to the Georgia secretary of state that he should ‘find him some 11,000 votes,’ you don't think there's sufficient cause for someone to investigate whether the president was doing that with sitting members of Congress?” Sanchez countered.
“Jack Smith is a political hack,” Cline said. “He was involved in the weaponization of the Department of Justice against the president and against members of Congress ... He has a history of failure and a history of politicization of his job. And he's a weasel.”
“I didn't hear you answer the actual substance of the question,” Sanchez said, interrupting.
Cline was equally adamant that he did not want Smith taking or answering question publicly, despite Trump calling for the hearing to be made public.
“Have you seen how the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee operate? They don't focus on the facts. They focus on emotion and excitement, and whatever gets them attention from the media,” Cline said.
Smith maintains his team “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that … Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power." He is giving his deposition behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee.
Watch the segment below:
- YouTube youtu.be
