Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, led by Dick Durbin (D-IL), have renewed their call for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith to testify publicly under oath before the committee. They are also requesting an unredacted version of Smith’s reports and all related materials from the Department of Justice.
This request comes as Senate Judiciary Republicans plan a series of eight subcommittee hearings to revisit the events surrounding the 2020 presidential election. The Democrats argue that these hearings divert attention from other important issues within the committee's jurisdiction.
In a letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley, the Democratic senators stated: “In advance of an unprecedented series of eight Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, we write to reiterate our request for you to invite Mr. Smith to testify publicly before the Committee without further delay. We also again ask you to request the Department of Justice (DOJ) transmit to the Committee Volume II of the unredacted ‘Final Report of the Special Counsel’s Investigations and Prosecutions,’ submitted on January 7, 2025, by then-Special Counsel Jack Smith to the Attorney General, as well as any underlying materials not already produced related to Volumes I and II, including the underlying records to support the requests for the toll records of Members of Congress and the related non-disclosure orders.”
The letter continued: “Many of the questions you have raised, however, could be answered if the Committee immediately called former Special Counsel Smith to testify. Last month, the House Judiciary Committee called Mr. Smith, and the Senate Judiciary Committee should follow suit so that Senators have a chance to question the former Special Counsel directly. Any questions Senators have regarding how and why Special Counsel Smith pursued this investigation into President Trump’s actions to overturn the 2020 election should be answered directly by him and the Volume II Report.”
The senators criticized their Republican colleagues’ approach: “Rather than cutting to the heart of the matter and calling Mr. Smith to testify, the Committee is dedicating valuable time to holding eight subcommittee hearings on Mr. Smith’s investigation… Instead of engaging in thoughtful debate about the online disinformation, intelligence failures, and domestic terrorism threat landscape that led to January 6—and that continues to cause havoc on our current political climate—Republican Senators are attempting to rewrite history to match President Trump’s distorted vision of the 2020 election. As the President and his allies have made abundantly clear in recent weeks, they continue to press the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen to justify interfering in upcoming elections.”
They concluded with: “We respectfully request you reconsider this ill-advised monopolization of the Committee’s time. If Senate Republicans truly want to understand the inner workings of Arctic Frost and why the Special Counsel subpoenaed the toll records of certain Republican Senators, Mr. Smith should be invited to appear before the Committee for public testimony as soon as possible. The Committee should also protect its institutional prerogatives and demand release of the Special Counsel’s full report. Given the seriousness of the matter, it is imperative Members be given the opportunity to hear from Mr. Smith directly and examine the full Report and underlying materials.”
The letter was signed by Durbin along with Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
The Senate Judiciary Committee plays a key role in legislative oversight concerning constitutional protections, public safety, federal law enforcement oversight, judicial nominations review, civil rights matters, and other legal issues at a national level.
