Jim Jordan wants Jack Smith prosecuted: He accuses him of lying under oath about spying on 44 members of Congress

Jack Smith, the former special counsel who sought to prosecute Donald Trump in connection with the classified documents cases involving Mar-a-Lago and the January 6th incidents, could face criminal charges after Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan filed a formal complaint against him with the Department of Justice on Wednesday.

As reported by Fox News, Jordan—chairman of the House Judiciary Committee—maintains that recently released documents contradict the testimony Smith himself gave under oath to his committee last December, when he denied that his team had accessed the content of lawmakers' text messages during the investigations he conducted against President Donald Trump.

The dispute stems from documents that the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, made public last week, according to which Smith's team reviewed the text messages of 44 lawmakers from both parties—40 Republicans and 4 Democrats—without waiting for an assessment by a "filter team," the mechanism the DOJ itself had established to prevent investigators from accessing communications protected by the constitutional Speech or Debate clause.

When asked directly whether he had examined that content, Smith replied that he had not, and explained to Congress that his team had only requested "toll records."

"Toll records were sought for historical telephone routing information, collected after calls had taken place, identifying the incoming and outgoing call numbers, the time of the calls and their duration. Toll records do not include the content of calls," Smith testified in December.

It is precisely that statement that Jordan is now challenging. "Responses provided by Mr. Smith gave the impression that neither Mr. Smith nor his team had access to the content of members' privileged text messages. We now know this to be false," Jordan wrote in a letter addressed to the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, in which he requested an assessment of whether Smith's conduct warrants criminal charges.

Among the lawmakers whose messages were reportedly reviewed are, in addition to Jordan and Grassley, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Susan Collins, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and Democratic Senator Cory Booker. Among officials in Trump's inner circle, former Vice President Mike Pence, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Ivanka Trump were also reportedly affected.

Smith has denied any wrongdoing. His main defender in this round of the dispute was Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, who described Jordan's allegation as a deliberate distortion of the facts.

"The Republicans fault Mr. Smith for not reading the minds of congressional investigators and for not volunteering information they didn't ask for. This is absurd. Mr. Smith may be telegenic but he is not telepathic."

The Department of Justice confirmed receipt of the complaint and stated that it "will investigate all evidence of criminal conduct," without indicating whether a formal case will be brought against him.