Jack Smith says Lindsey Graham would ‘likely’ have been a witness in case against Trump – US politics live
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2h agoJack Smith tells Darline Graham her brother would have 'likely' been a witness in the case against Trump
Ariana Baio
Republican senator Darline Graham, the sister of late senator Lindsey Graham, used her time questioning Jack Smith to accuse the former special counsel of adding “stress” to her brother’s life through subpoenas.
The South Carolina senator, appointed to replace her brother who died in July, told Smith that he should be “ashamed” of himself and that it made her “sick” to think that Smith’s subpoenas of Lindsey Graham’s phone records would have stressed him out.
“Do you really believe that Lindsey was going to destroy evidence that was not even in his possession?” Darline Graham asked.
But Smith responded, saying Lindsey Graham was “a patriot” and was not the target of his investigation.
“He likely would have been a witness in our case,” Smith added.
Key events
5m ago
Here's a recap of the day so far
1h ago
Hawley accuses Smith of attempting to 'interfere' with presidential election through Trump investigations
2h ago
Jack Smith tells Darline Graham her brother would have 'likely' been a witness in the case against Trump
2h ago
Cory Booker rails against Republicans 'gaslighting' public by perpetuating lie that Trump won 2020 election
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Ted Cruz angrily questions Jack Smith, says Javert from Les Mis would look in 'astonishment'
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Jack Smith hearing: Who is Timothy Thibault?
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Republican senator attacks Smith with accusations of perjury, calling him a 'dirtbag'
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'You make me want to throw up in my mouth': Republican senator scolds Smith
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Trump again claims that Iran was will end 'very soon', despite stalled negotiations and just over a month until midterm elections
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Trump says we 'can't stifle' AI as he unveils new tool to streamline federal government information
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Grassley accuses former special counsel Jack Smith of targeting 'entire Republican party' throughout investigations
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Former special prosecutor Jack Smith set to appear for contentious Capitol Hill hearing
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Here's a recap of the day so far
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Jack Smith faced Senate lawmakers on the judiciary committee for a contentious hearing that saw a number of Republicans accuse the former special prosecutor of perjury, and conducting a political witch-hunt against Donald Trump when he secured two indictments against the president that were later dismissed when he took office. Many GOP lawmakers hurled insults and accusations, with little evidence, at Smith. The former special counsel stood by his findings, and said that his investigations found “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in criminal activity. He also fended off allegations about the legality of procuring call toll records – and explained several times what these are and aren’t – outlined the persistent attacks he and former colleagues have faced from lawmakers and the president in the years since he prosecuted Trump and defended himself against the accusations that his work was politically motivated. Democrats, meanwhile, blasted their colleagues for peddling “the Big Lie” and called the hearing a “farce”.
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In Washington, Trump said the US ‘can’t stifle’ AI as he unveiled a new tool to streamline federal government information. The president made his views on any guardrails on AI development clear again, after previously branding the calls as a “hoax”. Also today, Trump met with several AI company CEOs at the White House, alongside Republican House speaker Mike Johnson.
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Trump also used the opportunity – now a little more than a month away from the midterm elections – to repeat his claim that the war with Iran will be over “very soon”. This despite another week of stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran via mediators. “They’re failing very badly,” the president said. “They will not have a nuclear weapon. And oil prices are going to be tumbling down, just like they were before.” He again referred to the conflict as a “little excursion”. A reminder the war is now in its seventh month, and has caused a global energy crisis that has seen the average price of a gallon of gas increase by a dollar.
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A Republican senator blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prevented Donald Trump from demolishing the Kennedy Center without the approval of Congress. Mike Lee, of Utah, objected when the Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley asked the Senate to pass the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act by unanimous consent. The bill, co-written with the Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, would have banned the demolition of any presidential memorial designated by Congress, including the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, unless lawmakers explicitly approved it.
Jack Smith’s hearing before the Senate judiciary committee has now ended. We’ll bring you a recap shortly.
Smith pushed back against a number of Josh Hawley’s accusations, including the process the former special prosecutor went about to get records from the National Archives, which included text messages between White House officials and 44 members of Congress
“That was a request for White House phones,” Smith said, noting that these happened to have contacts with members of Congress in it. “It was also inaccurate to state that our indictment happened on 2 October. We indicted that case in August [2023],” Smith said, noting that he and his team and consulted with the Public Integrity Section of the justice department, who “ultimately concurred” that they had “followed the election year sensitivities policy”.
Hawley accuses Smith of attempting to 'interfere' with presidential election through Trump investigations
Josh Hawley – a Republican senator and fierce Trump ally – launched into his critiques of Smith from the jump.
“Your investigation, so-called, your prosecution, so-called, was nothing other than an attempt to interfere politically in a presidential election in the United States of America,” Hawley said, repeating many right-wing conspiracies about Smith’s motivations. “You twice indicted a presidential candidate.”
When Thom Tillis, the outgoing Republican senator from North Carolina, asked Smith about whether there was anything he would have changed in the way he handled his investigations into Donald Trump, the former special prosecutor said that he learned, throughout his inquiries, that if he only stuck to confining his comments to the courtoom “people can unfairly malign your team and unfairly malign you and your case”.
He added:
double quotation markThere are things being put out daily that are patently untrue … I’m not advocating that prosecutors in the future start going on the internet every day responding to comments … I do agree that prosecutors in the future need to learn to be able to communicate to the outside world because I believe strongly we did our investigation the right way, but I limited myself in who I talked to about that.
Jack Smith tells Darline Graham her brother would have 'likely' been a witness in the case against Trump
Ariana Baio
Republican senator Darline Graham, the sister of late senator Lindsey Graham, used her time questioning Jack Smith to accuse the former special counsel of adding “stress” to her brother’s life through subpoenas.
The South Carolina senator, appointed to replace her brother who died in July, told Smith that he should be “ashamed” of himself and that it made her “sick” to think that Smith’s subpoenas of Lindsey Graham’s phone records would have stressed him out.
“Do you really believe that Lindsey was going to destroy evidence that was not even in his possession?” Darline Graham asked.
But Smith responded, saying Lindsey Graham was “a patriot” and was not the target of his investigation.
“He likely would have been a witness in our case,” Smith added.
Cory Booker rails against Republicans 'gaslighting' public by perpetuating lie that Trump won 2020 election
Back at the hearing, Democratic senator Cory Booker accused Republicans of “a farce”, levelling that they were “gaslighting” the public by “continuing to perpetuate the big lie in America that Donald Trump was somehow cheated out of the 2020 election.”
double quotation markThis big lie has gone on [long] enough. We have people who are serving at the highest offices in the land that repeat the big lie. We have people running for office in the Republican party that can’t even tell the truth.
And today’s farce – today’s gaslighting – cannot obscure the mountain of evidence and what Americans saw with their own eyes.
A visibly frustrated Booker lamented that this was unfair to Jack Smith and his family, but also to the American people who continue to struggle with problems including high gas prices, lack of health insurance coverage, and childcare costs.
The New Jersey senator ended, addressing Smith:
double quotation markWhat do the Republicans in control of Congress do with their closing statement before an election? They carry out the big lie. They persecute prosecutors. They do Trump’s bidding. They choose Trump over truth, corruption and crimes over the constitution, and I’ve had enough of it.
This hearing is a farce. And I’m sorry for what you and your family are enduring as a result.
Joseph Gedeon
Away from the hearing for a moment, a Republican senator last night blocked a bipartisan bill that would have prevented Donald Trump from demolishing the Kennedy Center without the approval of Congress.
Mike Lee, of Utah, objected when the Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley asked the Senate to pass the Protecting Presidential Memorials Act by unanimous consent. The bill, co-written with the Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, would have banned the demolition of any presidential memorial designated by Congress, including the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, unless lawmakers explicitly approved it.
“First, he destroyed its programming, and now, he wants to destroy the building itself,” Merkley wrote in a statement. “All because the law says Trump can’t put his name on the building.” He called the president’s threats “straight out of the authoritarian playbook”.
Murkowski, who chairs the appropriations subcommittee that funds the center, said last week that lawmakers had authorized and funded substantial renovation work, but “what was not authorized is a demolition of the Kennedy Center”.
Here’s Joseph’s report on the latest twist in one of the longest running legal sagas of Trump’s second term:
Ted Cruz angrily questions Jack Smith, says Javert from Les Mis would look in 'astonishment'
Ariana Baio
Republican senator Ted Cruz used his time to admonish Jack Smith for weaponizing the justice department to subpoena Republican members of Congress and conservative organizations during his investigation into Trump.
Cruz insinuated that Smith had used his power as the special counsel to target Republicans, asking Smith, “Is it a crime to be a Republican?” Smith replied: “Absolutely not.”
Cruz became increasingly angry with Smith during questioning, speaking over Smith as he tried to answer questions.
“Javert from Les Mis would look at you with astonishment,” Cruz told Smith.
Jack Smith hearing: Who is Timothy Thibault?
Ariana Baio
Throughout Smith’s hearing, Republican senators have repeatedly brought up Timothy Thibault, a former FBI agent who was in charge of the Arctic Frost investigation and accused of political bias.
Republican senator Katie Britt asked Smith multiple times to confirm or deny whether Thibault had engaged in political bias, even though Thibault retired from the FBI months before Smith was made special counsel.
Thibault oversaw paperwork to open the election conspiracy case known as Arctic Frost, which has become an increasingly polarizing topic among lawmakers. Thibault was accused of making political statements on social media, which some Republicans have used to point to a larger accusation that the Biden administration weaponized the Justice Department.
Thibault denied accusations that political partisanship impacted his work.
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat, asked Smith about his work with Republicans throughout his investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The former special prosecutor said he found it “very hard” to understand why his probe was considered to be partisan when the “strongest witnesses” were Republicans like Rusty Bowers, a former Arizona state representative, and former vice-president Mike Pence.
“The criminal scheme we investigated was predicated upon Donald Trump preying on party loyalty. He preyed on party loyalty and fear,” Smith said. “The reality is, one of the reasons, our democracy held up. One of the reasons he was not able to take power, even though, he was seeking to do these things is because Republicans stood up.”