House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asked former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday to sit for an interview about what he said were Smith’s ‘partisan and politically motivated’ prosecutions of President Donald Trump.
Jordan told Smith in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to schedule the closed-door testimony 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.
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 an 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 referred to Smith as ‘deranged,’ a ‘thug’ and a ‘sleazebag’ and said Smith is a ‘criminal’ who should be arrested.
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.’