WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� 鈥渄oes not happen鈥� without Donald Trump, former told lawmakers earlier this month in characterizing the Republican president as the 鈥渕ost culpable and most responsible person鈥� in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee a transcript and video of a closed-door interview Smith gave about two investigations of Trump. The document shows how Smith during the course of a daylong deposition repeatedly defended the basis for pursuing indictments against Trump and vigorously rejected Republican suggestions that his investigations were politically motivated.
鈥淭he evidence here made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit,鈥� Smith said, bristling at a question about whether his investigations were meant to prevent Trump from reclaiming the presidency in 2024.
鈥淪o in terms of why we would pursue a case against him, I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the presidential election,鈥� he added.
The Dec. 17 deposition was conducted privately despite Smith鈥檚 request to testify publicly. The release of the transcript and video of the interview, so far Smith’s only appearance on Capitol Hill since leaving his special counsel position last January, adds to the public understanding of the decision-making behind two of the most consequential Justice Department investigations in recent history.
he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and of willfully in Florida. after Trump’s 2024 election win, with Smith citing Justice Department policy against the indictment of a sitting president.
Smith repeatedly made clear his belief that the evidence gathered against Trump was strong enough to sustain a conviction. Part of the strength of the Jan. 6 case, Smith said, was the extent to which it relied on the testimony of Trump allies and supporters who cooperated with the investigation.
鈥淲e had an elector in Pennsylvania who is a former congressman, who was going to be an elector for President Trump, who said that what they were trying to do was an attempt to overthrow the government and illegal,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淥ur case was built on, frankly, Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before the party.鈥�
Accounts from Republicans willing to stand up against the falsehood that the election had been stolen 鈥渆ven though it could mean trouble for them鈥� created what Smith described as the 鈥渕ost powerful鈥� evidence against Trump.
When it came to the Capitol riot itself, Smith said, the evidence showed that Trump 鈥渃aused it and that he exploited it and that it was foreseeable to him.鈥�
Asked whether there was evidence that Trump had instructed supporters to riot at the Capitol, Smith said that Trump in the weeks leading to the insurrection got 鈥減eople to believe fraud claims that weren’t true.鈥�
鈥淗e made false statements to state legislatures, to his supporters in all sorts of contexts and was aware in the days leading up to Jan. 6th that his supporters were angry when he invited them and then he directed them to the Capitol,鈥� Smith said.
鈥淣ow, once they were at the Capitol and once the attack on the Capitol happened, he refused to stop it. He instead issued a tweet that without question in my mind endangered the life of his own vice president,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd when the violence was going on, he had to be pushed repeatedly by his staff members to do anything to quell it.鈥�
Some of the deposition focused on Republican anger at revelations that the Smith team had obtained, and analyzed, who were in contact with Trump on Jan. 6. Smith defended the maneuver as lawful and by-the-book, and suggested that outrage over the tactic should be directed at Trump and not his team of prosecutors.
鈥淲ell, I think who should be accountable for this is Donald Trump. These records are people, in the case of the senators, Donald Trump directed his co-conspirators to call these people to further delay the proceedings. He chose to do that,鈥� Smith said. “If Donald Trump had chosen to call a number of Democratic senators, we would have gotten toll records for Democratic senators.鈥�
The communications between Trump and Republican supporters in Congress were an important component of the case, Smith said. He cited an interview his office did with Mark Meadows in which Trump’s former chief of staff referenced that Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had been in touch with the White House on the afternoon of the riot.
鈥淎nd what I recall was Meadows stating that 鈥業鈥檝e never seen Jim Jordan scared of anything,鈥� and the fact that we were in this different situation now where people were scared really made it clear that what was going on at the Capitol could not be mistaken for anything other than what it was,鈥� Smith said.
Smith was also asked whether his team evaluated that Trump that grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him go to the Capitol after a rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021.
Smith told lawmakers that investigators interviewed the officer who was in the car, 鈥渨ho said that President Trump was very angry and wanted to go to the Capitol,鈥� but the officer鈥檚 version of events 鈥渨as not the same as what Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from somebody secondhand.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
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