FIRST ON FOX: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is seeking testimony from former special counsel Jack Smith about what he says were Smith's "partisan and politically motivated" prosecutions of President Donald Trump.
Jordan told Smith on Tuesday in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to schedule an interview with his committee by Oct. 28. The move comes at the same time congressional Republicans have been raising alarm over the recent revelation that Smith subpoenaed phone records of sitting senators.
"As the Committee continues its oversight, your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement," Jordan wrote.
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Jordan's request comes amid Republicans intensifying their focus on Smith, who brought criminal charges against Trump over the 2020 election and classified documents but later dropped them because of a Justice Department policy that advises against prosecuting sitting presidents.
The request to appear for a transcribed interview marks the first instance of Congress summoning Smith after the former special counsel spent more than two years investigating and prosecuting Trump. The president has repeatedly targeted Smith, referring to him as "deranged," a "thug" and a "sleazebag" and calling Smith a "criminal" who should be arrested.
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Jordan also made a broad request for all records from Smith on his work related to Trump. If Smith were to resist the requests for an interview and documents, Jordan could subpoena him. Fox News Digital reached out to Smith's lawyers for comment.
The Senate is also ramping up its scrutiny of Smith. Last week, 18 Senate Republicans, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, demanded that the DOJ and FBI release documents on Smith's decision to subpoena phone companies for toll records of eight Senate Republicans, material that could be protected by grand jury rules.
The senators said they had "serious constitutional concerns" about the subpoenas and that the DOJ should ask courts to unseal the records if needed. Seeking toll records is a routine part of an investigation and sheds light on when calls were placed and to whom. They do not provide any details about the contents of phone calls or messages.
Jordan called the subpoenas and his recent discovery that the FBI monitored Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., before seizing his phone "abusive surveillance."
Jordan also raised numerous other concerns he said he had with Smith's probes, including the controversial execution of a search warrant on Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in 2022 to seize boxes that allegedly contained classified material. Jordan also took issue with a gag order Smith sought against Trump in court after prosecutors raised concerns that threats Trump's targets were receiving were a result of the president's rhetoric.
"These actions undermined the integrity of the criminal justice system and violated the core responsibility of federal prosecutors to do justice," Jordan wrote.
