A legal expert Thursday revealed how former Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s testimony on his investigations into President Donald Trump could open him up to perjury charges.
CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez described why Smith was pausing before answering each question during his first public testimony with the House Judiciary Committee.
“There’s a perjury trap over this entire hearing,” Perez said. “They are watching every single word, and he is, I think he is weighing every single word. He cannot diverge from his previous testimony, he did a deposition in December, and I think he’s trying to be careful and that’s what you’re seeing, the tentativeness at the beginning. It’s pretty clear he’s comfortable with what he did and he still believes that he would do it again.”
Smith was speaking on his decision to prosecute Trump on a series of federal crimes in 2023. He wasted no time declaring that Trump “broke the law” at a congressional hearing Thursday.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the committee, delivered a scathing opening statement, accusing Smith of acting under “politics” and complaining about “stolen phone records.”
“We’re going to hear a lot of yelling and screaming from the other side,” Jordan claimed before the testimony.
Smith, a career federal prosecutor, was appointed as a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents and his role in the events surrounding the Insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Smith led high-profile criminal investigations and prosecutions against Trump on multiple counts, including obstruction of justice and violations of the Espionage Act related to classified materials at Mar-a-Lago, though the cases faced significant legal challenges and delays, with Trump ultimately avoiding trial on these charges following his 2024 election victory.
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