Jack Smith, the special counsel who secured Donald Trump’s indictment for mishandling classified documents and obstructing the subsequent investigation, said he has “tons of evidence” the president is guilty.
Smith, The New York Times reported Monday, told former Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann last month at University College London that Trump’s case contained evidence of “willfulness.” That was one of the ways the Trump classified documents investigation differed from the probe into Joe Biden, which resulted in no charges being brought, Smith said.
“The rule of law allows for different outcomes when the facts are different. One of the major differences between the two cases is the obstructive conduct in the case that I investigated,” Smith, 56, explained.
“That’s important for a couple different reasons. One reason is: to prove illegal possession of classified documents, you need to show that…the defendant possessed the documents willfully, and that means he knew what he was doing wrong, and he knew he was possessing the documents,“ Smith said. ”In my particular case, we had tons of evidence of willfulness.”
Smith then pointed to Trump’s social media posts and public statements asserting that the documents were his and he was allowed to keep them.
“And then after the investigation started, still refusing to give them back, and then trying to obstruct the investigation—that helps prove willfulness,“ Smith continued. ”That sort of evidence didn’t exist in the other case.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Trump, 79, has lined up Smith as his next target, having already pressured for—and received—indictments of other perceived political enemies like New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
“He is a CRIMINAL AND SHOULD BE IN JAIL,” Trump fumed in a social media post last week. “A MAJOR LOWLIFE AND FAILURE. An ugly person, both inside and out! I beat him badly, and love watching him squirm now.”
Republicans in Congress are helping Trump out by referring Smith to the Justice Department over how he subpoenaed the metadata of some GOP lawmakers’ phones as part of his investigation into the Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Neither of Smith’s investigations amounted to any criminal consequences for Trump. A Trump-appointed judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case in July 2024, and Trump’s election win last November spurred Smith to file to dismiss the election-related charges.
Not only does a DOJ memo state that sitting presidents cannot be indicted, but the Supreme Court last year gave the commander-in-chief even more immunity from prosecution.
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