Jack Smith thought he could hide the truth forever.
Republicans finally dragged him before Congress to answer for his witch hunt.
And Jack Smith admitted to telling a judge one big lie that left him in hot water.
Smith confessed to deceiving federal courts to spy on Congress
Jack Smith spent two years trying to destroy Donald Trump.
The former special counsel was appointed in November 2022 to prosecute Trump over the 2020 election and allegedly classified documents.
Republicans finally got Smith under oath on December 17 for an eight-hour deposition before the House Judiciary Committee.
The House released the full transcript and video on New Year's Eve — and what Smith admitted should land him in prison.
When Smith asked federal judges to approve secret surveillance of Republican lawmakers, he never told those judges the targets were sitting members of Congress.
"I don't think we identified that, because I don't think that was department policy at the time," Smith testified when asked whether judges knew they were demanding phone records from sitting congressmen.¹
That's not following department policy.
That's lying to a federal court to surveil the legislative branch.
The operation went by the name "Arctic Frost" and began in 2021 — long before Smith was appointed.
His team subpoenaed detailed records including inbound and outbound calls, text messages, and voicemail metadata from the days surrounding January 6.
Republicans like Pennsylvania Representative Scott Perry, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy had their personal communications secretly monitored.
Perry was the only lawmaker whose physical phone was seized by three FBI agents in August 2022 while he traveled with his family.²
Smith just admitted under oath he grabbed phone records from at least a dozen Republican congressmen they never knew about.
Here's what the Deep State doesn't want you to know
Internal Justice Department emails tell you everything you need to know about this witch hunt.
Smith's own lawyers warned him in May 2023 there was "litigation risk" in secretly grabbing lawmakers' phone records.³
Smith pressed forward anyway.
Why would he take that risk?
Because prosecutors believed the "litigation risk should be minimal" since they had "low likelihood" of actually charging any of the targeted lawmakers.
Stop right there.
Smith spied on Republican congressmen he admitted he had no intention of prosecuting.
That's not an investigation into crimes.
That's political surveillance to find dirt on Trump.
Obama-appointed Judge James Boasberg signed off on the surveillance and approved gag orders forcing phone companies to hide the subpoenas from the lawmakers for at least one year.
Verizon handed over the records.
AT&T told Smith to pound sand.
But here's the part that should have every American's blood boiling.
Smith's testimony reveals Boasberg never knew who he was authorizing surveillance against.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz erupted at an October press conference after discovering Smith had secretly monitored his phone records.
Cruz read directly from Boasberg's order, which claimed there were "reasonable grounds to believe" disclosure would lead to "destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and serious jeopardy to the investigation."⁴
Cruz was incredulous.
"If a judge signs an order reaching a factual conclusion for which there is zero evidence whatsoever, that judge is abusing his power," Cruz stated. "I am right now calling on the House of Representatives to impeach Judge Boasberg."
Except now we know Boasberg may have been lied to just like everyone else.
Smith never told him the surveillance targets were United States Senators and Congressmen carrying out their constitutional duties.
This is exactly what the Founders warned against
The Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause exists for one reason.
To prevent exactly what Smith just admitted doing.
The Executive Branch cannot weaponize federal law enforcement to spy on the Legislative Branch.
That's Separation of Powers 101.
House Judiciary Committee members hammered Smith over these constitutional violations.
Smith claimed his team consulted with Justice Department experts and found no court precedents that would have prohibited the subpoenas.
Smith defended the need for secrecy by arguing it prevented lawmakers from challenging the subpoenas in court.
That's not law enforcement protecting an investigation.
That's tyranny avoiding judicial oversight.
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan exposed the game during his questioning.
Internal DOJ communications showed agency officials believed the litigation risk was minimal partly because of the low likelihood of charges.
Smith built his entire prosecution on phone calls Trump made urging lawmakers to delay certification of Biden's Electoral College victory over concerns about election irregularities.
"I didn't choose those members; President Trump did," Smith said in his opening statement.⁵
That line tells you everything.
Trump exercised his constitutional authority to communicate with Congress about the election.
Smith turned that into a criminal conspiracy by secretly surveilling those communications — then admitted under oath he never planned to charge any of the lawmakers involved.
Nobody knows what Smith found in those phone records.
Nobody knows how that information was used behind closed doors.
Nobody knows who else in the Biden administration saw it.
And Smith isn't telling.
The Senate tried to include language in the government funding bill allowing lawmakers whose phone records were seized to sue for up to $500,000 in damages.
The House stripped that provision.
But the fact senators even tried shows how serious Smith's constitutional violations were.
The transcript reveals Smith repeatedly defending his witch hunt while simultaneously admitting its fatal flaws.
He became emotional — actually emotional — discussing prosecutors and FBI agents who were fired for their work on January 6 cases.
And in a moment of stunning honesty, Smith admitted "certainly, there could be more analysis" of the legal basis for surveilling lawmakers.
You think?
President Trump has called for Smith to be prosecuted for his role in this constitutional abuse.
Trump's instincts were right all along.
Smith just confessed under oath to deceiving federal judges to spy on members of Congress he never intended to prosecute — all to build a political case against Trump.
The Deep State's attack dog admitted to the very authoritarian tactics he spent two years falsely accusing Trump of threatening.
And Republicans finally have him on the record confessing to crimes that would send any ordinary American to federal prison.
The reckoning is coming.
¹ Brian Freeman, "Jack Smith Admits Judges Not Told of GOP Phone Seizures," Newsmax, December 31, 2025.
² CNN, "Rep. Scott Perry, a top Trump ally, says FBI agents seized his cellphone," August 10, 2022.
³ Daily Caller, "Jack Smith's Team Knew They Might Face Legal Challenges For Secretly Seeking Senators' Phone Records," November 25, 2025.
⁴ Breitbart, "Ted Cruz: Impeach Judge Who OK'd Spying on GOP Lawmakers' Phones," October 31, 2025.
⁵ CNN, "House Judiciary Committee releases video and transcript of Jack Smith deposition on New Year's Eve," December 31, 2025.
