Jack Smith Testimony Sparks Heated Jordan Vs Raskin Debate In House Judiciary — DRM News — AC1F

[0:02] the office of special jack smith smith chair now recognizes the gentlelady from florida to lead us [0:19] in the pledge of allegiance one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all [0:38] we'll begin today's hearing with opening statements chair is now recognized for an opening statement [0:47] it was always about politics and to get president trump they were willing to do just about anything [0:54] january 7th 2023 kevin mccarthy becomes speaker of the house 16 days later jack smith issues a subpoena [1:03] for his phone records phone records from two years prior for a two-month time frame election day 2020 [1:10] to january 7th 2021 jack smith and the biden justice department get the phone records of the top [1:17] republican in government the guy second in line to the president they know who he called who called [1:24] him when the call took place and how long it lasted you can pattern an individual's life [1:31] they know who the speaker talked to before big votes who he talked to after big votes when he calls his [1:36] colleagues when he calls his family and to add insult to injury they go to the judge with the subpoena for [1:43] a gag order on the carrier at&t don't tell your customer the speaker of the house that you just [1:51] gave his phone calls to jack smith and joe biden and here's the kicker they say to the court we need [2:00] this gag order because he's a flight risk someone might tamper with witnesses or with evidence are you [2:08] kidding me the speaker of the house is going to run they got my phone records for two and a half years [2:14] even the democrats said this was wrong but of course we shouldn't be surprised democrats have been going [2:22] after president trump for 10 years for a decade and the country should never ever forget what they did [2:30] over the next few hours we're going to hear a lot of yelling and screaming i assume from the other side [2:36] but we should never forget what took place what they did to the guy we the people elected president [2:44] twice it all started in 2016 when they spied on his campaign the clinton campaign hired the law firm [2:52] perkins cooey who hired the public relations firm fusion gps who hired a foreigner christopher steel [3:00] to put together the fake dossier bunch of garbage in that document but that was used by jim comey's fbi [3:07] and we all know jim comey he was the guy who just last year was strolling along the beach when the good [3:15] lord had the waves wash up on shore seashells in the formation of 8647 that guy took that dossier to the [3:24] fisa court lied to the court and then spied on the other party's campaign this of course led to the [3:33] muller investigation two and a half years 19 lawyers 40 agents 30 million dollars to find nothing no [3:42] conspiracy no coordination whatsoever then it was impeachment one anonymous whistleblower we couldn't [3:50] even know who was bringing the charge against the guy they were trying to take it the guy we elected who [3:55] were they trying to kick out of office we couldn't know secret hearings in the bunker in the basement [4:01] of the capitol again nothing then it was impeachment too no secret hearings here because they didn't [4:10] have any hearings it was a snap impeachment and the senate trial actually took place after president trump [4:16] wasn't in office then of course it was alvin bragg who said before he got elected district attorney [4:24] that there was no case here then he gets elected and changes his mind when the left starts pressuring [4:30] him to go after president trump he hires michael colangelo former democrat national committee [4:36] consultant and the number three guy at the department of justice and then of course it's [4:42] fonnie and nathan fonnie willis and nathan wade and fulton county georgia we actually deposed mr wade [4:52] one of the most interesting depositions i've sat through we said to him you know you build taxpayers in [4:57] georgia thousands of dollars for meetings in dc with the january 6 committee and with the biden [5:02] administration and we asked him some questions who'd you talk to mr wade he couldn't remember [5:10] we said where'd you meet you meet the capitol the white house where'd you meet couldn't remember that [5:17] either we said were these meetings in person on the phone or did you have a zoom meeting couldn't [5:24] remember couldn't remember couldn't remember we finally just asked him did you really come to dc and [5:30] meet people he said oh yeah i came and i billed the taxpayers i know i came just no idea who he [5:36] talked to or what he did and then there was the raid on president trump's home you know where they [5:44] searched baron's room in the first lady's closet in our deposition with stephen d'antuano head of the [5:50] fbi washington field office he told us none of the normal process none none of the normal protocol [5:57] was followed in the investigation he said first of all the case was run out of dc [6:02] normally you run it out of the miami field office no no no we're going to run out of dc [6:07] he said he recommended and the people in the fbi at the time in the washington field office recommended [6:12] they give the president notice before they do the search or at least when they got there before they [6:18] start the search call the president's lawyers ask them to come there and meet them and conduct the [6:23] search together again the answer from main justice was no which brings us back to mr smith on november [6:33] 18 2022 three days after president trump announces he's running for president attorney general garland [6:41] names jack smith special counsel one of the first things mr smith does is put on his team the very [6:48] people responsible for the raid on president trump's home the very people and then jack smith also puts [6:57] on his team the people responsible for getting the phone records of dozens of members of congress [7:03] people like thomas windham who when we deposed him took the fifth 71 times we've actually referred [7:11] him to the justice department for obstructing our investigation jack smith then gets a gag order [7:17] in his investigation on president trump from judge chuckkin without filing a single affidavit with the [7:23] court from a witness or a potential witness that they felt threatened by statements from the president [7:29] stop and think about it jack smith restricts the speech of the former president while he's a candidate [7:37] for president thank goodness mr smith was slapped down on appeal and the order was changed in fact [7:44] just two weeks ago the washington post editorial page jack smith would have blown a hole in the first [7:52] amendment i just want to read two sentences from this mr smith seemed unconcerned about interfering in [8:00] the democratic process by seeking to muzzle a candidate for high office three appellate judges [8:05] all nominated by democrat presidents ruled that mr smith's gag proposed gag order infringed on president [8:12] trump's first amendment rights and of course they did and this wasn't the only time mr smith lost in [8:20] court in the classified documents case in miami judge cannon held that mr smith was not permitted to be [8:25] special counsel jack smith was never properly appointed in fact he couldn't be properly appointed because [8:32] he was never confirmed by the senate for any position in the executive branch as the law requires [8:39] here's what judge cannon stated quote the special counsel's position effectively usurps that important [8:45] legislative authority transfer transferring it to a head of department and in the process threatening [8:51] the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers and of course on july 1st 2024 the united [9:00] states supreme court ruled that president trump had immunity for actions taken in his official capacity [9:06] as the president one month later after after this decision by the supreme court jack smith files a [9:13] superseding indictment on august 27 2024 but mr smith doesn't stop there he does something unprecedented [9:21] on october 2nd he files a motion with the court before president trump's defense counsel has even responded [9:30] to the indictment everyone knows the normal process is the government indicts the defense responds with [9:37] some motions and then the government responds to the defense but mr smith skips the second step and [9:43] the brief that he files is 165 pages almost four times the court limit even liberal judge chutkin who's [9:52] given jack smith everything he's asked for in the course of this investigation even she called it [9:58] atypical and atypical and irregular now why would jack smith do that why would he abandon proper [10:05] procedure why would he ignore court rules why would he do that because he's running out of time there's [10:13] an election around the corner it's coming in 33 days and he's got to get president trump he's got to [10:20] stop president trump from running tie him up in court he's got to get to trial or at a minimum insert [10:26] an 165 page political document into the presidential campaign it was always about politics the good news [10:37] is the american people saw through it they saw through it for so long the left has controlled so [10:45] much in this country the left control big media the left control big tech the left control academia [10:52] hollywood certainly the democrat party and i think all too much the federal bureaucracy but the left [10:59] doesn't control we the people and in spite of the left and the weaponization efforts of jim comey [11:06] alvin bragg bonnie willis and jack smith we the people saw through it all and we elected president [11:13] trump twice before uh before turning to the ranking member for his opening statement i would just ask [11:21] unanimous consent to enter into the record the washington post editorial jack smith would have [11:27] blown a hole in the first amendment with that i yield to the gentleman from maryland well thank [11:32] you kindly mr chairman i want to start by recognizing the presence of uh four american heroes here today [11:39] four of the hundreds of officers who defended us on january 6 2021 michael fanon aquilina gunnell [11:46] daniel hodges and harry dunn and i thank them for uh being here today mr smith thank you for appearing [11:53] before the american people i'm glad that the committee has finally granted you the same chance [11:58] to report your findings to the american people that every other special counsel investigating an [12:04] american president has had uh the good chairman started by saying it's all about the politics well [12:10] maybe for them but for us it's all about the rule of law and who's going to stand by the rule of law [12:15] and who's going to oppose it now mr smith you're one of america's great prosecutors for nearly three [12:23] decades you worked for justice under both republicans and democrats the manhattan da office where you [12:29] prosecuted sex crimes and domestic violence cases the eastern district of new york where you prosecuted [12:35] murderers rapists gangbangers and other violent criminals leading the public integrity section at the [12:43] department of justice you brought prosecutions against corrupt public officials across the political [12:49] spectrum when you went to the hague as chief prosecutor in the kosovo uh trial you prosecuted [12:59] war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against thousands of innocent victims while others [13:06] may have devoted their lives to corrupt self-enrichment you have devoted your life to the rule of law [13:13] and to public service you've never been prosecuted for anything you've never been convicted of anything as [13:20] far as i can tell you've never even been the subject of a disciplinary proceeding over the course of [13:25] your multi-decade career but donald trump says you're a criminal and you belong in prison he says you [13:33] belong in prison not because you did anything wrong mind you but because you did everything right you [13:40] pursued the facts you followed the law you stuck with extreme caution to every rule of professional [13:48] responsibility you had the audacity to do your job everybody here knows what you did wrong in donald trump's [14:00] eyes and why he says you belong in prison you found and i quote from your sworn testimony before the [14:07] committee you found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that president trump engaged in a criminal scheme to [14:15] overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power when asked whether [14:22] you believe the evidence was enough to obtain a criminal conviction against donald trump at trial [14:29] you had a one-word answer yes when asked if donald trump was responsible for the violence that took [14:36] place at the capitol on january 6 you said our view of the evidence was that he caused it and that he [14:42] exploited it and that it was foreseeable to him you found that trump knew he had lost the election how well [14:51] his own attorney general william barr repeatedly told him so and described all of trump's theories as bs [14:58] trump's top campaign advisors told him he lost the election vice president pence told him he lost the [15:06] election more than 60 federal state and court decisions including eight rendered by judges he appointed [15:13] the bench rejected every outlandish election fraud and corruption claim that he made trump himself even [15:20] privately acknowledged it gesturing to joe biden on tv and saying quote can you believe i lost to that [15:28] effing guy he knew he lost but he threw everything into his big lie which some people even in this room [15:36] to this day will stand by and swear by well when the big lie wasn't enough to convince officials like [15:44] georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger a republican to commit election fraud and just fine trump [15:50] 11 780 votes when it wasn't enough to convince trump's doj to quote just call the election corrupt and [15:58] leave the rest to me in the house republicans when it wasn't enough to force vice president mike pence [16:04] to announce and then exercise lawless powers to reject electoral college votes and use counterfeit [16:12] slates to anoint trump the winner that's when trump incited mass violence on january 6th while more than [16:20] 140 officers were being brutally assaulted by trump's mob while riders beat them with flagpoles and [16:27] sprayed them with chemical agents and crushed them in doorways and while they chanted hang mike pence [16:34] and chase the vice president out of the capitol trump and his team worked the phone calling not the [16:41] national guard which was under the direct unilateral control of donald trump but calling members of [16:48] congress urging them to delay certification and to nullify the election results special counsel smith [16:58] you pursued the facts you followed every applicable law ethics rule and dha regulation your decisions were [17:05] reviewed by the public integrity section you acted based solely on the facts the opposite of donald trump [17:12] who now has purported to take over the department of justice he's in charge of the whole thing under his [17:18] unitary executive theory and he acts openly purely based on political vendetta and motives of personal [17:27] revenge and he doesn't deny it our colleagues have complained about the special counsel's review of toll [17:34] records which are phone records like a phone bill showing only the timing and duration of calls and [17:40] containing no content no substance whatsoever from the calls but those records were lawfully subpoenaed [17:48] because donald trump made those members of congress relevant to the investigation it was trump who [17:54] chose to call them to advance his criminal scheme as you testified mr smith if donald trump had chosen [18:00] to call a number of democratic senators we would have gotten toll records for them too i trust our [18:07] colleagues get the point because america certainly gets the point there is much mr smith still can't talk [18:14] about though we know he badly wants to his investigation developed what he calls powerful evidence [18:19] that trump stole documents containing our country's most sensitive secrets hoarded them in the ballrooms [18:25] and the bathrooms of his well-trafficked mar-a-lago social club he showed them off to visitors and then [18:33] he obstructed a federal investigation by instructing his attorney to pluck out anything really bad before [18:39] turning materials over to the fbi and having his staff delete incriminating security tape footage [18:46] but today we're not going to hear a lot about that because you are gagged by an absurd judicial order [18:52] rendered faithfully by trump's most servile and sycophantic appointee to the federal bench [18:58] judge eileen cannon this order not only blocks release of volume two of your report which is unprecedented [19:04] about the classified document scam it also gags you from discussing the report or its contents with us [19:12] with america and so we don't know what's in it but it must be pretty devastating because donald trump [19:17] is desperate to keep mr smith or any other doj official for all time from ever releasing it to [19:25] congress into the american people now mr smith if any of our colleagues foolishly choose to attack you [19:34] and vilify you today and i know that's not going to happen from some serious prosecutors over there [19:40] like mr not and mr smith who understand what federal prosecutors do and what the rule of law means but if [19:46] anybody decides to attack you personally they will only be revealing their own ignorance of what [19:53] prosecutors do and their own indifference to what the rule of law requires in america they will only be [19:59] stroking the wounded ego of a lawless twice impeached convicted felon president who not only unleashed a [20:07] mob against congress and his own vice president but is now pardoned and released into our communities [20:14] hundreds of extremists insurrectionists and cop-beating felons who have proceeded to commit [20:20] dozens more crimes against the american people since they were pardoned mr smith i understand you are a [20:28] long distance marathon runner i read that you're a triathlete who's done more than a hundred triathlons [20:34] and nine ironman competitions you are in the fight for justice and the rule of law for the long [20:40] distance for the long haul and i thank you for that and we should all try to follow your example [20:46] america looks forward to your testimony today i yield back to you mr chairman gentlemen it's back [20:51] without objection all of their opening statements will be included in the record we will now introduce [20:55] today's witness mr jack smith was appointed as special counsel uh in november on november 18 2022 [21:01] he served until january 7 2025. uh we welcome our witness today we'll begin by swearing you in would [21:07] you please rise and raise your right hand do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the [21:15] testimony you're about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge information and [21:18] beliefs so help you god i do let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the affirmative [21:23] thank you you can be seated