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Jordan Asks DOJ to Prosecute Jack Smith, Allying a Single 'No' Against 44 Lawmakers' Texts

The House Judiciary chair says the former special counsel lied to Congress about whether his team read the messages. Smith's lawyers say he was asked a narrower question and answered it.

Imeandikwa Dakika 4 za kusoma · Vyanzo 11

HeyDex

Inapatikana kwa Kiingereza

One Answer, 44 Lawmakers, and a Criminal Referral

The number that matters is 44. That is how many members of Congress had the content of their text messages obtained by the team of Special Counsel Jack Smith, according to the House Judiciary Committee chairman now asking the Justice Department to prosecute the man who investigated Donald Trump twice. The figure sits at the center of a single word Smith spoke under oath in December — no — and that one syllable is what the referral is built on.⁠2⁠3⁠4

On July 22, 2026, Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department asking it to investigate and prosecute Smith for allegedly making false statements during a closed-door deposition. Jordan's letter argues that Smith gave Congress a misleading answer about the reach of his investigative powers.⁠2⁠3⁠4⁠5

The Question and the Answer

The exchange happened during Smith's December 17, 2025 deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. According to the reporting, Smith was asked whether the toll records his team had subpoenaed included the content of calls or texts from members of Congress. He answered no.⁠3⁠11

Jordan argues that answer was misleading because Smith's office separately obtained the content of text messages involving 44 members of Congress, allegedly through a separate request to the National Archives. Fox News reported that the Senate found Smith's team collected and read texts from members of Congress.⁠7 Jordan cited the federal false-statement statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and accused Smith of making "willfully and intentionally false statements."⁠10⁠11

Some outlets, including ABC News, frame the referral as alleging perjury.⁠5⁠10 ABC's photo caption dates Smith's testimony to January 22, 2026 — a date that conflicts slightly with the December deposition reported elsewhere. The discrepancy is not resolved in the available reporting.

Smith's Defense

Smith's lawyers have rejected the referral outright. They said Smith gave truthful, responsive answers to the exact questions asked, and that the question he was asked was specifically about toll records, which by definition do not contain message content.⁠3⁠6

Former prosecutors told CBS News that the referral fails to show a crime was committed.⁠6 The defense argues the dispute is not about whether Smith lied; it is about whether he should have volunteered information that was not responsive to the question put to him.

The referral turns on the gap between what a congressman asked and what a special counsel chose not to say. Forty-four lawmakers' texts are the scale the chairman wants the country to see; the defense wants the country to see the four corners of the question.

HeyDay News Desk

The Institutional Stakes

A criminal referral from a committee chairman does not compel prosecution; it is a recommendation that the department may accept, decline, or quietly shelve. The referral lands at a Justice Department whose leadership has been reshaped since the investigations Smith ran, and any decision to prosecute a former special counsel for testimony about his own case would carry its own political weight.⁠6

The referral is the most concrete step yet in the institutional confrontation between congressional Republicans and the prosecutors who investigated Donald Trump. It follows months of pressure from the House Judiciary Committee on Smith and his team, and it converts a closed-door transcript into a possible criminal case.

What Is and Isn't Known

Why It Matters

Who's Who

Wahusika ni nani

  • Rep. Jim JordanHouse Judiciary Committee Chairman (R-OH), sent the referral
  • Jack SmithFormer Special Counsel, target of the referral

Yanayojulikana

  • Smith testified on December 17, 2025 that subpoenaed toll records did not include message content from members of Congress. 3
  • Jordan sent the criminal referral on July 22, 2026, citing 18 U.S.C. § 1001. 2
  • Fox News reports the Senate found Smith's team collected and read texts from members of Congress; the exact mechanism is disputed. 7

Yasiyojulikana

  • Whether DOJ has formally responded to the referral or confirmed receipt.
  • The exact number of lawmakers whose texts were obtained, beyond the figure of 44 cited by the committee.
  • Whether the deposition date is December 17, 2025 or January 22, 2026 — outlets disagree.

Yanayofuata

  • Whether DOJ opens a formal investigation or declines to pursue the matter.
  • Whether Smith's defense team escalates with public filings or congressional engagement.
  • Whether other committees follow Jordan's referral with their own requests.

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