# Smith Defends Prosecutions Amid Republican Criticism

> Former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith defends investigations as Republicans attack his tactics in Senate hearing.
- Title: Smith Defends Prosecutions Amid Republican Criticism
- Summary: Former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith defends investigations as Republicans attack his tactics in Senate hearing. Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his…
- Keywords: jack smith, senate judiciary committee, trump prosecutions, republican tactics, phone records subpoena, iowa hawkeyes basketball, mar-a-lago, 2024 presidential race, 2020 election, classified documents, fbi, justice department
- Source: The Banner — https://thebanner.com/politics-power/national-politics/jack-smith-senate-hearing-S2QVHVJEQJGFDICQUBSZZ2JIUQ
- Author: Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press
- Published: 2026-09-29T19:57:16.752+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: jack smith, senate judiciary committee, trump prosecutions, republican tactics, phone records subpoena, iowa hawkeyes basketball, mar-a-lago, 2024 presidential race, 2020 election, classified documents, fbi, justice department
## Smith defends Trump prosecutions
Former special counsel Jack Smith forcefully defended his prosecutions of President Donald Trump and his investigative tactics during a Senate hearing.
## Republicans target Smith's tactics
Republicans pushed for Smith to be prosecuted and accused him of politicized prosecutions during the 2024 presidential race.
## Smith denies political influence
Smith stated he would not let politics play a role in his work and that colleagues would share this stance.
## Smith criticizes rule of law assault
Smith lamented an unprecedented assault on the rule of law and sweeping terminations of his team that made the country less safe.
## Republicans call Smith a villain
Republicans described Smith as a 'villain' and a 'dirtbag' worse than former President Richard Nixon.
## Phone records subpoena controversy
Smith issued subpoenas for GOP lawmakers' phone records to investigate Trump's efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss.
## Smith defends subpoena necessity
Smith said the subpoenas were common practice to understand the 'scope of the conspiracy' between Trump and his allies.
## Toll records reveal call data
Toll records show the date, length and time of phone calls without revealing content.
## Republicans accuse Smith of overreach
Republicans consider Smith's team obtaining phone records proof of overreach by the Biden administration Justice Department.
## Smith denies breach of speech protection
Smith denied breaching the 'speech and debate' constitutional protection for lawmakers' legislative acts.
## Smith faces personal criticism
Republican Sen. John Kennedy asked Smith if he believed in the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny, to which Smith said no.
## Smith clarifies basketball game
Smith revealed he attended an Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball game in Maryland, not an Atlanta Hawks game in Georgia.
## Schmitt calls Smith a dirtbag
Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt accused Smith of traveling to Atlanta and attending a game for the city’s NBA team.
## Key takeaway

Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his Trump prosecutions during a Senate hearing after Republicans accused him of partisan tactics and misleading statements about attending basketball games.