We are lost: Jack Smith gives America a warning in rare interview

Former special counsel Jack Smith defended his prosecutions of now-President Donald Trump, while criticizing the Justice Department’s conduct under the Trump administration, in a recent appearance in the United Kingdom.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrew Weissmann at an event at University College London on October 8, Smith rejected the idea that his work on the two indictments he secured against Trump was politically motivated.

“The idea that politics influenced who worked on that case or who was elected is ridiculous,” Smith said. “The idea that politics plays a role in important cases like this is absolutely ridiculous and completely contrary to my experience as a prosecutor.”

Smith also criticized the functioning of Trump’s Justice Department, including the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey days after former White House aide Lindsey Halligan replaced Erik Siebert as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he resigned under pressure from the Trump administration for failing to bring criminal cases against Comey or New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

“The apolitical prosecutors who looked at this said there wasn’t a case and that’s why they brought in someone who had never been a criminal prosecutor on a day’s notice to secure an indictment one day before the statute of limitations ran out,” he said, referring to the Comey case. “That just reeks of lack of process.”

James has since been charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

Smith also had harsh words for the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case after Adams agreed to work with the White House on the president’s plans to combat immigration.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Smith said, referring to the Adams case.

Smith also issued a prescient warning about the future of the Justice Department amid attacks on nonpartisan public servants.

“It’s hard to tell people how much it’s going to cost us,” he said. “If you think getting rid of the people who know the most about national security will make our country safer, you don’t know anything about national security.”

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File

“I think once we get to a position where we start talking about maybe not following judicial opinions that we don’t like, we’re going to be lost in terms of the rule of law,” Smith said amid concerns about a constitutional crisis in the United States.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is calling on Smith to appear before the panel by Oct. 28, describing his testimony as “necessary to understand the extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement.”

Smith has yet to respond to Jordan’s request.

Smith prosecuted two cases against Trump: one for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and another for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Both cases were dismissed in November 2024 following Trump’s re-election. Smith resigned in January after submitting his investigative report on Trump.