Jack Smith thought he could take down a President and walk away unscathed.
The former Special Counsel is about to learn a hard lesson about revenge.
And Jack Smith started one fight with Trump he's going to live to regret.
Jack Smith breaks his silence and demands the spotlight
After months of keeping his head down, Jack Smith is suddenly everywhere demanding public hearings and media attention.
The former Special Counsel who prosecuted Donald Trump is now asking Congress for permission to testify publicly about his investigations.
Smith wants to "correct the many mischaracterizations" about his work, according to a letter his lawyers sent to House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
That's a bold move for someone who just spent two years trying to put the President of the United States behind bars.
Smith appeared at University College London last month where he defended his investigations and took shots at the Trump administration's Justice Department.
"Nothing like what we see now has ever gone on," Smith claimed during the interview.
He insisted politics played no role in his prosecutions and said he had "tons of evidence" Trump willfully retained classified documents.
Smith even criticized the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision, expressing concern the ruling meant "you can never prosecute powerful, high officials."
The guy who failed to convict Trump before the election now wants another chance to make his case in front of cameras.
Republicans discover the scope of Smith's surveillance dragnet
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley just released documents showing the true extent of Smith's investigation.
The so-called "Arctic Frost" probe didn't just target Trump.
Smith's team issued 197 subpoenas to 34 individuals and 163 businesses requesting records on at least 430 Republican individuals and entities.
Nine Republican lawmakers had their phone records seized by the FBI — eight of them Senators.
Smith's prosecutors grabbed personal cellphone data and dragged people in for interviews. They wanted every communication between Republicans and Fox News, Newsmax, and Sinclair.
Get this — they subpoenaed records from Trump-aligned groups that didn't even exist on January 6.
Grassley wasn't mincing words. "Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus," he said.
Jordan went after Smith hard, calling his prosecutions "partisan and politically motivated."
Trump's response to the surveillance news? He called Smith a "criminal" who should be "investigated and put in prison."
The Office of Special Counsel launched an ethics investigation into whether Smith violated the Hatch Act by using his prosecutions to influence the 2024 election.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton alleged Smith "used his DOJ role to influence the election" in favor of Biden and Kamala Harris.
Smith's past prosecutions keep blowing up in court
Going public is dangerous for Smith when you look at what happened with his previous cases.
From 2010 to 2015, Smith ran the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section. His record? Mistrials, overturned convictions, and cases that fell apart.
The Supreme Court took one look at Smith's conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and threw it out. Unanimously. All nine justices said Smith went too far.
Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked Smith's team for using a "boundless interpretation of the federal bribery statute."
Roberts warned that "the uncontrolled power of criminal prosecutors is a threat to our separation of powers."
Smith's prosecution of former Senator John Edwards ended in a mistrial with the jury acquitting on one count.
The case against Senator Bob Menendez collapsed in a mistrial.
Former Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi, whom Smith's team convicted in 2013, claimed prosecutors engaged in "repeated, concealed and corrosive" misconduct.
Trump later pardoned Renzi, who served nearly two years in prison.
Renzi said he was shocked by the similarities between his case and Trump's prosecution.
"These are no white knights. They are very dangerous and will use any tactics to win at all costs," Renzi warned.
Smith's legal troubles are mounting as Trump's Justice Department takes aim at those who targeted the President.
Pam Bondi's working hand-in-hand with congressional Republicans investigating Smith's conduct.
The Trump administration fired at least 35 Justice Department employees who worked on the investigations.
Trump even issued an executive order targeting the law firm Covington & Burling for providing Smith $140,000 in free legal services.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan summoned Smith to testify behind closed doors about what Republicans call his "partisan and politically motivated prosecutions."
Some Senate Republicans want public hearings to give Smith a chance to defend himself on camera.
But senior Republicans like Senator Ron Johnson and Chairman Chuck Grassley are moving more deliberately.
They're focused on releasing internal documents that prove Smith engaged in a politically motivated witch hunt.
Smith may be raising his profile to raise cash for legal defense
Smith's sudden media tour raises an obvious question about his motives.
The former prosecutor is facing multiple congressional investigations, an ethics probe, and potential criminal charges.
All of that will require expensive legal representation.
By raising his public profile and positioning himself as a martyr for the rule of law, Smith could be laying groundwork for a fundraising campaign.
Whether it's crowdfunding from Trump-hating liberals or a deep-pocketed donor stepping up, Smith's going to need serious money for the legal battle ahead.
The irony is rich – Smith spent $50 million in taxpayer dollars trying to destroy Trump.
Now he's the one who needs a legal defense fund to survive the consequences of his overreach.
Trump promised accountability for those who weaponized the Justice Department against him.
Smith thought his prosecutorial immunity would protect him from scrutiny.
But as his own targets learned the hard way, being investigated by federal prosecutors is expensive, exhausting, and potentially life-destroying.
Smith wanted the spotlight to make his case against Trump.
He's about to get more attention than he bargained for.
¹ Glenn Thrush, "Jack Smith, Trump's Target, Shifts From Defense to Counterattack," The New York Times, November 3, 2025.
² Chuck Grassley, "NEW: Jack Smith Subpoenaed Records for Over 400 Republican Targets," Senate Judiciary Committee, October 2025.
³ Washington Times, "Jack Smith's record rife with mistrials, overturned convictions, judicial rebukes," July 4, 2023.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ CBS News, "Lawyers for Jack Smith say basis of ethics probe against him is 'imaginary and unfounded,'" August 26, 2025.
⁶ NBC News, "Trump calls Jack Smith a 'criminal' who should be in prison," October 29, 2025.
⁷ First Amendment Encyclopedia, "Jack Smith's Final Report on Trump Investigations," March 28, 2025.
