Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Judiciary Committee Hearing With Former Special Counsel Jack Smith

September 29, 2026 Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Judiciary Committee Hearing With Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Durbin: “There was nothing untoward about Special Counsel Smith and his fellow prosecutors conducting this investigation. The aspersions cast on Mr. Smith nonstop are petty, personal, and political.” WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement during today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with former Special Counsel Jack Smith. In November 2022, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Mr. Smith, a nonpartisan career prosecutor, as Special Counsel with authority to investigate President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s effort to illegally retain highly classified government documents. As a result of these investigations, Special Counsel Smith indicted Trump on four counts in the election interference case and 40 counts in the classified documents case. Mr. Smith has offered to testify publicly under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee for almost a year. Instead of allowing Mr. Smith to testify, Senate Judiciary Republicans held wasteful hearings to relitigate the 2020 presidential election, despite numerous other issues worth examining within the Committee’s jurisdiction. Key Quotes: “Republicans have spent months spreading baseless conspiracy theories about Mr. Smith’s investigation instead of hearing from him directly. Nearly a year ago, Mr. Smith volunteered to testify under oath before this Committee, and we Democrats joined in that offer, saying let’s get to the bottom of it. Put him under oath and let’s ask questions.” “House Republicans called Mr. Smith to testify in January, but Senate Republicans refused his offer to testify and instead [said they would hold] eight hearings on [Mr. Smith’s] supposed wrongdoing—never calling him directly. In fact, this Committee held only three hearings to question telecom companies for following the law and hear from MAGA loyalist witnesses with no first-hand knowledge of Mr. Smith’s investigation. Finally, Senate Republicans relented, and we have today’s hearing.” “Here are the facts: Mr. Smith was tasked with investigating President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his unlawful retention and distribution of sensitive, classified documents after he left office… President Trump’s efforts to steal the election reached a crescendo on January 6, 2021, when he exhorted his supporters at a rally by the White House to ‘fight like hell,’ and told them ‘we’re going to the Capitol.’” “When he finally left office in 2021, President Trump seized boxes of classified documents containing top-secret information on our defense and weapon capabilities, our nuclear programs, and potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attacks. These were government documents the President took, not his personal effects—yet he stored these extremely sensitive documents haphazardly in a Mar-a-Lago ballroom, a bathroom shower, his bedroom, and other unsecured spaces.” “In both his theft and distribution of these classified documents and his attempts to steal the 2020 election, Trump demonstrated a wanton disdain for the United States, the will of its people, and our national security.” “Investigating misconduct by government officials requires scrupulous care. Thankfully, Mr. Smith, who is here today and will be under oath, and his team of nonpartisan, career prosecutors had the necessary experience to tackle this assignment… But in return for [routine investigative activities], Mr. Smith and his special counsel staff have had their names dragged through the mud by the MAGA machine… This is a result of President Trump’s campaign, aided and abetted by Congressional Republicans, to whitewash the history of the 2020 election and the insidious attack on this Capitol building.” “It is sad to see my colleagues contort themselves to support President Trump’s lies. I expect that will continue today because of the limits placed on Mr. Smith’s ability to testify by MAGA loyalist Judge Aileen Cannon and the Trump Administration. Judge Cannon has enjoined the release of Volume II of the Special Counsel report on the classified documents investigation, and Mr. Smith himself is enjoined from providing information about that investigation unless the Justice Department has made that information public.” “Let me be clear: There was nothing untoward about Special Counsel Smith and his fellow prosecutors conducting this investigation. The aspersions cast on Mr. Smith nonstop are petty, personal, and political. They are nothing but a smokescreen to distract from President Trump’s own unlawful conduct.” “After years of whitewashing President Trump’s crimes, my Republican colleagues can finally raise their concerns with the one person who can best address them. Maybe this will finally free the Committee from the endless debate on baseless conspiracy theories and allow us to address real problems affecting the American people.” When Trump was re-elected president in November 2024, Special Counsel Smith moved to dismiss the cases against him based on the Department of Justice’s position that the Constitution forbids the federal indictment and prosecution of a sitting president. Following the dismissal, Special Counsel Smith provided Garland a two-volume report outlining his findings in both investigations. While Garland released Volume I, concerning the election interference case, Judge Aileen Cannon enjoined DOJ from releasing Volume II, concerning the classified documents case. In October 2025, and again in February 2026, Durbin led all Senate Judiciary Democrats in sending a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) calling on him to allow former Special Counsel Jack Smith to testify before the Committee. In their letters, the Senators also urged Chairman Grassley to request DOJ release Volume II of Special Counsel Smith’s report. Video of Durbin’s opening statement in Committee is available here . Audio of Durbin’s opening statement in Committee is available here . Footage of Durbin’s opening statement in Committee is available here for TV Stations. -30- Print Email Share Tweet