- Oct 17, 2011
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Former special counsel Jack Smith told a congressional committee Wednesday that his team found "proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Donald Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election,according to portions of his opening statement obtained by NBC News.
Trump also “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice” to keep secret his retention of classified documents found during an FBI search in Mar-a-Lago, Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee during a closed-door hearing.
Smith said his team turned up “powerful evidence that showed Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in Jan. 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a bathroom and a ballroom where events and gatherings took place.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Smith to testify as part of Republican efforts to investigate the special counsel's office.
Pushing back at criticism over his team's decision to obtain and analyze the phone call records of nine congressional Republicans, Smith told members of the committee that those records “were lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant to complete a comprehensive” investigation.
"President Trump and his associates tried to call Members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election.”
“I didn’t choose those Members," Smith added, “President Trump did.”
Smith is not expected to testify about Volume II of his report, which focused on Trump’s handling of classified documents.
After Trump’s team moved to block its release, [Judge] Cannon banned the release of that report, as well as the sharing of “any information or conclusions in Volume II” with anyone outside the Justice Department.
Trump also “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice” to keep secret his retention of classified documents found during an FBI search in Mar-a-Lago, Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee during a closed-door hearing.
Smith said his team turned up “powerful evidence that showed Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in Jan. 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a bathroom and a ballroom where events and gatherings took place.”
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Smith to testify as part of Republican efforts to investigate the special counsel's office.
Pushing back at criticism over his team's decision to obtain and analyze the phone call records of nine congressional Republicans, Smith told members of the committee that those records “were lawfully subpoenaed and were relevant to complete a comprehensive” investigation.
"President Trump and his associates tried to call Members of Congress in furtherance of their criminal scheme, urging them to further delay certification of the 2020 election.”
“I didn’t choose those Members," Smith added, “President Trump did.”
Smith is not expected to testify about Volume II of his report, which focused on Trump’s handling of classified documents.
After Trump’s team moved to block its release, [Judge] Cannon banned the release of that report, as well as the sharing of “any information or conclusions in Volume II” with anyone outside the Justice Department.
