Jack Smith Hit With Criminal Referral Over Alleged False Statements to Congress

Key Facts

Published: July 23, 2026 Source: New York Post, House Judiciary Committee, Associated Press

• House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan referred former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department for possible criminal investigation.
• Jordan alleges Smith denied reviewing lawmakers’ text-message content, while newly released records indicate his team accessed messages involving more than 40 members of Congress.
• Smith’s attorneys deny he misled Congress and maintain that his testimony was truthful and responsive to the specific questions asked.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan says newly released records contradict the former special counsel’s sworn testimony

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News) – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has referred former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation, accusing him of making false statements to Congress about the scope of his investigation into President Donald Trump.

Jordan, an Ohio Republican, alleged that Smith misled lawmakers during a closed-door deposition in December 2025 when questioned about his office’s collection of communications involving members of Congress.

Smith testified that investigators obtained only telephone “toll records,” such as information showing when calls or messages occurred, and not the actual content of lawmakers’ communications.

However, Jordan said newly released Justice Department records show Smith’s investigative team reviewed the content of text messages exchanged between Trump White House employees and more than 40 members of Congress.

The referral asks the Justice Department to determine whether Smith knowingly made materially false statements in violation of federal law.

“The evidence strongly suggests that Smith made false statements to the Committee regarding his office’s review of Members’ communications,” Jordan wrote, according to the New York Post.

Smith’s attorneys rejected the allegation, arguing that his testimony was accurate because the questions he answered concerned a particular set of subpoenas for telephone records—not messages obtained separately from the National Archives.

A congressional criminal referral does not itself result in charges. The Justice Department will decide whether the evidence warrants a formal investigation or prosecution.

Smith led the Biden-era federal investigations into Trump involving the 2020 election and classified documents. Both cases were abandoned after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, consistent with Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

The dispute is likely to intensify Republican scrutiny of the investigative tactics used against Trump and members of Congress. For many Americans, the case raises a larger concern: Those entrusted with enforcing the law must also remain fully accountable under it.

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