Jack Smith escalates Trump DOJ clash with blistering private event rebuke

The former special counsel accused the department of weaponizing its authority, the very same accusation Republicans have widely leveled against Smith for bringing two criminal cases against Trump during the Biden administration.

"We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn't like them," Smith said.

A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department expected "nothing less from Jack Smith, whose sole mission was to politically prosecute a former president in an attempt to stop him from assuming office again.""This DOJ has ended the weaponization perpetrated by the Biden administration and will continue to ensure no one is above the law," the spokesperson said.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called Smith a "lying hack" who prosecuted Trump "to try and benefit his Democrat cronies."

"Jack Smith was specifically hired to spend years on a witch hunt to compile lies against the president, and it's laughable that he would try and criticize this administration for restoring integrity to the Justice Department," Jackson told Fox News Digital.

Smith brought indictments against Trump alleging he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election and that he retained classified national defense information. Smith faced significant hurdles in the election case, while the classified documents case was tossed out by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who said he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.

Smith's office was appealing Cannon's ruling when Trump won the 2024 election. Weeks later, Smith moved to dismiss both federal cases, citing the Justice Department's longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Trump raged at Smith repeatedly, calling him a corrupt "thug" who belonged in jail. In January, Trump said on Truth Social that Smith was a "deranged animal" who should lose his law license. Smith is a longtime attorney who prosecuted war crimes in The Hague and led the DOJ's Public Integrity Section during the Obama administration.

Trump said he hoped the DOJ was investigating Smith, "including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM - A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!"

The president's remarks directly clash with Smith's rare, heated commentary at the private event, and they accuse one other of weaponization as Smith faces threats of federal prosecution for targeting Trump despite the DOJ and congressional investigators yet to uncover criminal wrongdoing by Smith.

Smith said the DOJ has "been corrupted" over the past year but that he believed the department would "ultimately come through this better."

Smith also accused the DOJ of turning a blind eye to cases that might reveal "inconvenient" facts that would contradict "narratives the president would like to press."

"To erode the rule of law in this country you need to attack these people, and that is what we have seen since January 2025," Smith said.

Smith's comments were not all negative, however, according to The New York Times. 

A Smith representative had no comment.