House GOP threatens special counsel Jack Smith with subpoena

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Arizona GOP Rep. Andy Biggs on Thursday demanded that special counsel Jack Smith provide them with a litany of documents related to his investigation and prosecution of former President Donald Trump or face a subpoena.

"Based on publicly available information, the Committee has significant concerns about your commitment to evenhanded justice," they wrote to Smith. "You have a record of attempting to criminalize political discourse, as evidence by your reported interest in how the Justice Department could prosecute conservative tax-exempt groups engaging in constitutionally protected political speech."

In the letter, the pair drew attention to allegations that a top aide to Smith, Jay Bratt, improperly pressured an attorney representing a defendant in Smith's case. In September, Jordan demanded Smith account for the allegations that Bratt had attempted to convince attorney Stanley Woodward to convince Walt Nauta to cooperate with the probe. Nauta is a defendant in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

The pair further pointed to revelations that Smith had secured the private information of millions of Americans "without an apparent specialized nexus to criminal activity."

The Republicans demanded Smith hand over documents and communications between his office and those of the attorney general and deputy attorney general about the case, as well as information on his staff, materials related to his acquisition of data from Twitter.

They set a deadline of Jan. 4, 2024, for Smith to comply.

"If you do not produce documents responsive to these requests, the Committee may resort to compulsory process," they warned.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.