Person of record
Jack Smith
Former Special Counsel · U.S. Department of Justice
Former Special Counsel appointed in 2022 to oversee federal investigations involving Donald J. Trump, including the election-related investigation connected to January 6. A July 14, 2026 Justice Department letter states that the Special Counsel investigative team directly accessed National Archives text-message spreadsheets involving 44 current or former members of Congress before the established filter-team review process was completed. On July 22, 2026, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent DOJ a referral alleging that Smith knowingly made materially false or incomplete statements during a December 17, 2025 deposition about access to congressional message content. The referral is an allegation and recommendation, not a criminal charge, prosecution, or adjudicated finding. Smith's attorneys state that his answers were truthful and specifically addressed toll-record subpoenas; House Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin also disputes the referral. JULY 2026 FIRST TELEVISION INTERVIEW MS NOW published a 46-minute Deadline: White House interview with Smith on July 2, 2026, hosted by Nicolle Wallace. Publisher metadata verifies the interview, date, host, and displayed runtime. In a preserved transcript excerpt, Smith discussed the January 6 investigation, future election-related litigation, support for election workers, presidential pardons, witnesses, and the investigative methods used in the federal case. These remain Smith’s attributed statements and analysis, not judicial findings. Native media and a complete time-coded transcript remain pending. NATIVE FILTER-REVIEW EXHIBIT A separately preserved 90-page Senate-released exhibit supplies underlying internal materials for the July 2026 disclosure. It identifies Project Coconut as the January 6 investigation, describes a segregated filter-team process intended to screen potentially privileged material, and includes August 21, 2023 emails describing a single National Archives production of 54 Excel files containing White House phone text messages. The emails record investigative-team personnel downloading, circulating, transferring, and directing the files be loaded into review systems. The exhibit verifies the internal handling record; it does not by itself establish criminality, decide privilege, or resolve whether the underlying production was lawful. DECEMBER 2025 HOUSE DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPT The complete official redacted transcript of Smith’s December 17, 2025 House Judiciary deposition is now preserved in the archive. Across 255 pages, Smith discussed the federal election-related January 6 investigation, telephone toll-record subpoenas involving members of Congress, evidence associated with the National Archives, executive privilege, confidential human sources, witness interviews, and communications with the House January 6 Committee. Smith described toll records as non-content records and stated that the toll-record subpoenas discussed did not include call or text-message content. A July 2026 committee referral later argued that some answers were incomplete in light of a separate National Archives text-message production; Smith’s attorneys dispute that characterization and distinguish the two collection methods. The archive preserves the full transcript and both positions without treating the referral as an adjudicated finding.
The case file
On the record
Press & news
- https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-judiciary-committee-refers-jack-smith-doj-criminal-prosecution →
- https://www.tapesearch.com/podcast/deadline-white-house/1367201919 →
- https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/exclusive-the-jack-smith-interview/id1367201919?i=1000775245031 →
- https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/doj_to_grassley_-_arctic_frost_filter_team.pdf →
- https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-07-22-jdj-to-doj-blanche-re-smith-referral.pdf →
- https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-member-raskin-slams-republicans-baseless-and-vindictive-criminal-referral-of-jack-smith-former-special-counsel-who-prosecuted-trump-s-crimes →
- https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/07/03/jack_smith_to_state_attorneys_general_be_ready_to_litigate_everything_imagine_everything_that_could_possibly_be_tried.html →
- https://www.grassley.senate.gov/download/arctic-frost-filter-review →
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Evidence on file
5 documents on file
Govt response4 documents
Responses from DC DOC, the U.S. Marshals, and federal agencies.
letter · Jul 22, 2026
House Judiciary sends DOJ criminal referral concerning Jack Smith testimony
A six-page July 22, 2026 letter from Chairman Jim Jordan asks DOJ to investigate whether former Special Counsel Jack Smith violated 18 U.S.C. § 1001 in December 2025 deposition testimony. The referral contains committee allegations and legal arguments; it is not a charge, prosecution, conviction, or judicial finding. Smith's attorneys and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin dispute the referral.
exhibit · Jul 14, 2026
Arctic Frost Filter Review Exhibit A — Project Coconut and NARA text production
A 90-page record package released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson. The exhibit identifies Project Coconut as the January 6 investigation, describes the filter-team structure intended to screen potentially privileged material, and contains August 21, 2023 emails recording a single National Archives production of 54 Excel files containing White House phone text messages. The exhibit documents internal process and records handling; it does not itself adjudicate criminality, privilege, or the lawfulness of the underlying records request.
letter · Jul 14, 2026
DOJ letter describes Arctic Frost filter-team bypass and congressional text-message access
A four-page Justice Department letter released July 14, 2026 states that the Special Counsel investigative team directly accessed National Archives text-message spreadsheets involving 44 current or former members of Congress before the established filter-team review process was completed. The letter is an official source about process and records access; it does not by itself establish a criminal violation.
transcript · Dec 17, 2025
Jack Smith House Judiciary Deposition Transcript — December 17, 2025
The official 255-page redacted deposition transcript records former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Committee about the January 6 investigation, congressional telephone toll records, National Archives evidence, executive privilege, confidential human sources, and related investigative decisions. The transcript is preserved as source evidence; disputed legal characterizations remain attributed to their proponents.
News1 document
Press coverage.
video · Jul 2, 2026
Jack Smith discusses the January 6 investigation in first television interview
MS NOW published a 46-minute Deadline: White House interview with former Special Counsel Jack Smith on July 2, 2026. Publisher metadata verifies the date, host, subject, and runtime. Smith’s statements about the January 6 investigation, election officials, future litigation, pardons, witnesses, and investigative methods remain attributed commentary rather than judicial findings.