House Judiciary Republicans are targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith again, filing a criminal referral with the DOJ claiming he lied to Congress. The accusation? That Smith misled lawmakers during a closed-door deposition regarding his team’s acquisition of congressional communications.
It is a bogus claim. Smith was specifically asked whether his subpoenas for phone “toll records”—which log numbers, dates, and times—included the substantive content of text messages. He correctly answered no. Toll records from phone companies do not contain message content. Smith later obtained White House communications through standard DOJ procedure via the National Archives, which held official executive branch records.
This referral isn’t a serious legal matter; it’s political retribution aimed at weaponizing the DOJ against those who investigated Trump. Watch my recent CNN appearance above, where I break down the legal distinction between toll records and preserved archives, and explain why this latest referral will ultimately fall apart.
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— Dave, AKA Florida LawMan
