Overview
- House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Wednesday asking that prosecutors examine whether Jack Smith made materially false statements in a December deposition.
- The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the referral and said it will investigate all evidence of criminal conduct, leaving the decision to open a formal probe or bring charges to DOJ officials.
- Jordan’s letter cites recently produced DOJ and National Archives records that he says show Smith’s team accessed text-message content tied to about 44 members of Congress and that a special‑counsel filter team review was bypassed.
- Smith’s lawyers and House Democrats counter that his December answers were truthful and responsive because the questions focused on telecom ‘toll records,’ not separately produced presidential records from the National Archives.
- Congressional referrals do not bind DOJ, but the move raises second‑order questions about oversight, the Speech or Debate Clause for lawmakers’ communications, and partisan pressure on the department as it weighs whether to investigate.