Jack Smith spent years calling himself an independent, nonpartisan prosecutor above politics.
Now he is before the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senator John Kennedy just caught him with nowhere to run.
What Kennedy asked next left Smith reaching for his pen instead of an answer.
Kennedy Exposes How Arctic Frost Secretly Swept Up Congressional Phone Records
The Louisiana Republican came loaded. Before Senator John Kennedy ever got to the bombshell, he carved through former Special Counsel Jack Smith's credibility layer by layer.
Smith's wife produced a glowing Netflix documentary about Michelle Obama. Smith served in the Trump administration after 2016 – a detail he volunteered as cover – but Kennedy wasn't buying the immunity it was meant to provide.
Then Kennedy turned to Arctic Frost.
Smith secretly obtained phone records from 16 Republican members of Congress and swept up text message content from 44 members – all while concealing the surveillance behind court-ordered gag provisions.
When he went to Judge Boasberg to approve the subpoenas, he never told the judge he was targeting congressional communications.
Kennedy said Boasberg would have stopped him cold: "Anybody who knows a law book from a J.Crew catalog knows that this violates the Constitution." But Smith never gave him the chance. "You didn't tell him, did you?"
Smith's answer was a pirouette. He talked about non-disclosure orders. He talked about process. He never said yes, and he never said no.
Kennedy's verdict: "You make me want to throw up in my mouth."
Smith Claims He Had No Idea Biden Directed the Prosecution of Trump
Kennedy then moved to the question every Republican in the room wanted answered.
Did Biden or his White House staff instruct Merrick Garland to prosecute Trump?
"Again, I have no idea about that," Smith said.
Kennedy let that sit for a beat.
"Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy?"
Smith said he did not.
"How about the Easter Bunny?"
"I no longer believe in the Easter Bunny," Smith said.
"Do you think Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes?"
Kennedy's point was surgical. Smith was asking Americans to believe he made the call alone – to bring the first criminal prosecution of a former president in history, against Biden's own political opponent, with no sign-off from above.
Garland never checked. Biden never knew. It was just John L. Smith, career prosecutor, acting alone.
The Question About Lobbying Garland That Smith Could Not Answer
The hearing's most damaging moment came late, and it came quietly.
Kennedy alleged that Smith had actively lobbied Merrick Garland to be appointed Special Counsel.
"You asked General Garland to appoint you special counsel, didn't you?"
Smith looked down. He picked up his pen. He scribbled.
"I don't think that's accurate," he said finally. "He made the decision to appoint me."
Kennedy pressed harder. Did Smith have people call Garland to lobby on his behalf?
Smith looked down again. More scribbling.
"I don't recall anything like that."
"You really wanted to be Special Counsel, didn't you?"
Smith's answer was a rehearsed appeal to his 30-year record. He accepted the position. He was qualified. He would have done the same for any party.
Not a denial. A redirect.
Every journalist in that room caught it. Kennedy had just asked Smith if he engineered his own appointment to prosecute a political enemy of the party whose documentary his wife produced and profited from – and Smith responded by writing something down.
If Smith Lobbied to Become Special Counsel the Trump Case Was Never Independent
Smith's entire defense has rested on one pillar: independence. He had no political motive. He was appointed, not selected. He followed the evidence wherever it led.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had already laid out the architecture before Kennedy took his turn.
Arctic Frost was opened under Garland, Lisa Monaco, and Christopher Wray personally. The Biden Justice Department's fingerprints were on this before Smith's name was ever attached to it.
Grassley's committee documented 84 subpoenas connected to Arctic Frost alone. At least 10 targeted phone records from 20 current or former Republican members of Congress.
If Smith lobbied for the job on top of all that, the pillar falls. A prosecutor who pursues a position does not accidentally wind up in that position. He wanted it and got it.
And the question of why he wanted it – with a wife whose career was built celebrating the Obama White House – deserved a direct answer.
He offered none.
Kennedy came to this hearing to establish one thing: Jack Smith was not an independent actor. He was the instrument of a political machine that used the Justice Department to target a president for the first time in American history. The Tooth Fairy line was memorable. The scribbling was the proof.
Sources:
- Kyle Becker, "Do You Believe in The Tooth Fairy? Sen. Kennedy Nails Jack Smith to the Wall in Stunning Exchange," RedState, September 29, 2026.
- Kyle Becker, "Jack Smith Crossed the Line: 87 White House Phones and Major News Outlets Swept Up in Dragnet," RedState, September 29, 2026.
- "Grassley Opens Senate Judiciary Oversight Hearing on Arctic Frost and Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority," Senate Judiciary Committee, September 29, 2026.
- "Grassley Releases New Arctic Frost Records, Raising Additional Questions about Jack Smith's Conduct and Candor," Senate Judiciary Committee, March 24, 2026.
- Matt Margolis, "Sen. Kennedy Utterly Dogwalked Jack Smith at Senate Hearing," PJ Media, September 29, 2026.
- "Jack Smith Violated Constitution to Spy on Republicans in Lawless Arctic Frost Investigation, Committee Alleges," Daily Caller, September 23, 2026.
