Ex-special counsel defends Trump prosecution in House appearance

"The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions," Smith was quoted as telling the panel.

"Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power," Smith said.

"If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat," he added.

Smith had requested that his deposition be delivered in public, but the Republican majority on the House Judiciary Committee declined his request.

Trump was accused by Smith of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and plotting to overturn the results of the White House race he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Neither case came to trial and Smith -- in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president -- dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election.

Smith declined to speak to reporters as he arrived for the deposition before the committee, which is examining his decision to bring the two criminal cases against Trump.

- 'Unprecedented retribution campaign' -

Lanny Breuer, Smith's lawyer, said the former special counsel, in testifying, was "showing tremendous courage in light of the remarkable and unprecedented retribution campaign against him by this administration and this White House."

"Jack Smith, a career prosecutor, conducted this investigation based on the facts and based on the law and nothing more," Breuer told reporters.

Since taking office for the second time, Trump has urged the Justice Department to bring cases against Smith and a number of other perceived political opponents.

Cases brought against Trump foes James Comey, a former FBI director, and New York Attorney General Letitia James collapsed last month after a judge ruled that the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.

Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has criticized the decision by the Republicans on the oversight panel not to allow Smith to testify publicly.

"What are our colleagues so afraid of, that they won't let the American people hear directly from the special counsel?" Raskin said.

"The American people deserve to hear the full unvarnished truth about special counsel Smith's years-long effort to investigate and prosecute the crimes committed by Donald Trump and his co-conspirators," he said.

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