Who Is Jack Smith? The special counsel named in historic Trump investigations.

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Jack Smith Jack Smith, the former U.S. Justice Department Special Counsel who brought two now-dropped criminal cases against President Donald Trump, will publicly testify to the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22.

Pictured here, Special Counsel Jack Smith delivered remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against then-former President Trump at the Justice Department on June 9, 2023 in Washington, D.C. At the time, Trump was indicted in the special counsel's classified documents probe.

Smith gave private testimony to the committee in December 2025 where he defended his investigations into Trump, saying that the basis for the prosecutions "rests entirely with President Trump and his actions."

Smith was appointed independent special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to oversee two criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump's alleged role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

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