House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) grilled Jack Smith — the former special prosecutor who oversaw the Biden-led Justice Department’s criminal cases against President Donald Trump — about the exuberant expenses racked up by his office over the course of the investigation.
Smith was on Capitol Hill Thursday to testify about his investigations before lawmakers. He was repeatedly grilled by Republican members throughout the hearing, many of whom referenced shaky evidence from the case such as former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony.
Jordan, the committee chairman, asked Smith about the $35 million in taxpayer funds allocated to his office over the course of the investigations.
“How much more money did you pay confidential people, people we don’t know about, with American tax money, going after the guy we elected president?” the chairman asked.
“My recollection regards the $20 ,000, which was not a payment from me. It was me approving a payment by the FBI to a confidential human source who was reviewing video and photographic,” Smith answered, at which point Jordan asked for the name of the source.
Smith answered that he was not aware of the source’s name or the exact details of other potential payments to this or additional confidential human sources. The former special counsel told lawmakers that his role was oversight rather than day-to-day management of such transactions.
“$35 million and you’re giving money to people the country doesn’t know who they are and you’re giving their hard -earned money to these folks?” Jordan then interjected. The chairman noted that as part of Smith’s investigation, the FBI monitored communications from dozens of Republican lawmakers, subpoenaed bank records and more.
“Why did you have to pay people for information when you could subpoena them and get it?” Jordan continued. Smith ultimately did not give an answer, instead opting to discuss the lone confidential human source he claimed to be aware of.
