During a Senate Judiciary hearing earlier this week, lawmakers pressed former special counsel Jack Smith on the two indictments he brought against President Donald Trump in 2023.
The committee questioned Smith about his handling of the investigations, but Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was more concerned about what he described as Smith’s personal vendetta against him.
According to Sen. Cruz, Smith subpoenaed records associated with his personal and office phones in May 2023, seeking to obtain a court order to “prevent” Sen. Cruz from knowing about it.
“For years, you were able to ask your questions in secret without me in the room,” he said. “Today the Senate gets to ask questions, and unlike you, we will do so in public.”
Smith said he does remember pursuing subpoenas from Fox News on ad buys because they were relevant to the false statements being investigated, but that he could not recall doing so for donor and fundraising data.
“You know, damn well you did,” Sen. Cruz said. “You've been questioned about the checks that you guys got.”
Smith said he had not seen these subpoenas in a “very long time” and would need to review them in order to answer Sen. Cruz’s questions.
“All in all, you issued 197 subpoenas to 34 individuals at least and 163 businesses, and you sought records on at least 430 Republican individuals and entities,” Sen. Cruz said. “And you're going to say you don't remember.”
Smith said he “did not recall those numbers,” but that he could not recall every subpoena and would need to review the records.
“We had a strong reason to believe that Donald Trump would destroy evidence that was not directed at Donald Trump,” he said.
Sen. Cruz said he believes Smith’s subpoenas were fueled by political bias.
“Instead of being apolitical, instead of enforcing the law, you willingly were conscripted as a foot soldier for the [Democratic National Committee] DNC,” Sen. Cruz said. “I believe you have convinced yourself that this witch hunt targeting half the country for partisan ends was justified.”
