00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm glad my Republican colleagues have finally accepted Special Counsel Jack Smith's offer,
00:07long-standing offer, to appear before this committee and testify under oath.
00:13Republicans have spent months spreading baseless conspiracy theories about Mr. Smith's investigation
00:21instead of hearing from him directly.
00:25Nearly a year ago, Mr. Smith volunteered to testify under oath before this committee.
00:33We Democrats joined in that offer, saying, let's get to the bottom of it, put him under oath, and let's
00:39ask questions.
00:40And then, almost a year passed.
00:44House Republicans called Mr. Smith to testify in January,
00:48but Senate Republicans refused his offer to testify and instead held eight hearings on his supposed wrongdoing,
00:57never calling him directly.
01:00In fact, this committee held only three hearings to question telecom companies for following the law
01:07and hear from mega-loyalist witnesses with no firsthand knowledge of Mr. Smith's investigation.
01:14Finally, the Senate Republicans relented, and we have today's hearing.
01:20Here are the facts.
01:21Mr. Smith was tasked with investigating President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election
01:30and his unlawful retention and distribution of sensitive, classified documents after President Trump left office.
01:41In the weeks following President Trump's 2020 election loss,
01:46and yes, for the record, the president did lose the election.
01:50He tried to subvert the will of the people and steal the presidency.
01:55The president did all of this while knowing and privately admitting he'd lost the election to Joe Biden.
02:02By seven million votes,
02:06President Trump threatened state election officials in battleground states where he lost,
02:12urging them to submit fraudulent election certificates to overturn the votes in those states.
02:18Now, that's a pretty tough allegation,
02:20that the president asked election officials in various states to change the outcome,
02:26to overturn the election.
02:28What proof do you have, Durbin?
02:31The voice of the president himself.
02:34How do we know this?
02:35The president said it.
02:37He called the election official in Georgia and asked him to find,
02:43find was his word, 11,780 votes.
02:48I hope that that never happened before in American history,
02:51and I hope it never happens again.
02:54President Trump pressured two attorneys general
02:56to have the Justice Department falsely declare election fraud
03:01and pressure states to overturn the will of the people.
03:06One of these attorney generals resigned,
03:09and when his successors still refused,
03:12Trump threatened to replace him with a loyalist who would do his bidding.
03:16The president's own White House counsel called this threat, quote,
03:20a murder-suicide pact.
03:23Trump only backed down when he was informed that his entire Department of Justice leadership
03:29threatened to resign en masse rather than violate their oaths to the Constitution.
03:35President Trump's efforts to steal the election reached a crescendo on January 6th of 2021,
03:43when he exhorted his supporters at a rally by the White House to, quote,
03:50fight like hell and told them, quote,
03:53we're going to the Capitol, the words of the president.
03:56I was here on January 6th when that armed mob overran this building
04:03in a violent attempt to stop the election certification process,
04:07which was taking place in the House and the Senate.
04:10In the wake of that attack of January 6th,
04:15and you saw it on video, exactly what happened,
04:19five law enforcement officers who defended us and the visitors to the Capitol
04:25and the ideals they represented lost their lives.
04:30More than 140 policemen were injured.
04:35It's been my honor to serve for 30 years in the United States Senate.
04:39There are moments I'll never forget.
04:4225 years ago, 9-11 was one of those moments
04:45when we were asked to evacuate the Capitol for fear of what might happen
04:50if the terrorists attacked.
04:52But today I'll also remember, as long as I live,
04:55is January 6th, 2021,
04:57when this cathedral of democracy was overrun
05:01by violent insurrectionists
05:03at the direction of the president of the United States.
05:07When he finally left office in 2021,
05:11President Trump seized boxes of classified documents
05:15containing top-secret information on our defense and weapon capabilities,
05:20our nuclear programs,
05:22and potential vulnerabilities of the United States
05:25and its allies to military attacks.
05:29These were government documents the president took,
05:32not his personal effects.
05:34Yet he stored these extremely sensitive documents
05:38haphazardly in a Mar-a-Lago ballroom,
05:43a bathroom shower,
05:46his bedroom,
05:48and other unsecured spaces.
05:51And then he showed off these secret documents
05:53to seemingly anyone at random,
05:57including his publisher,
05:59staff members,
06:00and representatives of his political action committee.
06:03When members of the Senate are shown documents like this,
06:07it is in a closed setting and guarded document room,
06:11where we are told,
06:13don't take anything in writing out of this room afterwards.
06:17The president was showing these things off at Mar-a-Lago.
06:21In both his theft and distribution of these classified documents,
06:25and his attempts to steal the 2020 election,
06:28President Trump demonstrated a wanton disdain
06:31for the laws of the United States,
06:34the will of the people,
06:36and our national security.
06:38Malfeasance by government officials
06:40is sadly not a new phenomenon,
06:43but President Trump's misconduct was egregious,
06:47differing in kind and scale
06:49from what we had seen by any president before him.
06:53Investigating misconduct by government officials
06:56requires scrupulous care.
06:58Thankfully,
07:00Mr. Smith,
07:01who is here today
07:02and will be under oath,
07:04and his team of nonpartisan career prosecutors
07:07had the necessary experience
07:10to tackle this assignment.
07:13Mr. Smith's resume
07:15as a professional prosecutor
07:17is solid
07:19and extensive.
07:21He's done everything
07:22from securing
07:23a capital murder conviction
07:25against a gang leader
07:27who murdered
07:28two New York Police Department officers
07:30to securing convictions
07:32against war criminals
07:34from the Kosovo War.
07:36But in return,
07:38Mr. Smith
07:39and his special counsel staff
07:40have had their names
07:42dragged through the mud
07:43by the MAGA machine.
07:44Timothy Thiebaud
07:47heard his name this morning?
07:50It was said repeatedly
07:51by the chairman.
07:54Timothy Thiebaud
07:56retired from the FBI
07:58in August of 2022.
08:01Mr. Smith
08:02was appointed special counselor
08:04three months later
08:06in November of 2022
08:08as an example.
08:14This is a result
08:15of the President Trump's campaign
08:17aided and abetted
08:18by many congressional Republicans
08:20to whitewash the history
08:22of the 2020 election
08:24and the January 6th
08:26insidious attack
08:27on this Capitol building.
08:29Republicans have released documents
08:31and details
08:32related to these investigations
08:34in a haphazard,
08:36non-chronological order
08:37to muddle the professional nature
08:40of Mr. Smith's efforts
08:42in a manufactured controversy
08:44where there is none.
08:46They decry Mr. Smith
08:48for following the facts
08:49and the law
08:49and say nothing,
08:51nothing about a president
08:53who continued
08:54to break the law
08:55in an effort
08:55to prevent the truth
08:57from coming to light.
08:58Trump frequently threatened
09:00public officials
09:01and likely witnesses
09:02in the election interference case
09:04by name,
09:05which encouraged further threats
09:07and intimidation
09:08by his supporters.
09:10In the classified documents case,
09:12Trump took obstruction
09:14to a new level.
09:15He suggested to his attorneys
09:17that they lie
09:18and say they had submitted
09:19all the documents
09:20or did not have them.
09:22He suggested they remove
09:24some documents
09:24prior to returning them,
09:26directed his employees
09:27to hide documents,
09:29directed his employees
09:30to delete video footage
09:32of the boxes being hidden
09:33at his home in Mar-a-Lago.
09:36It is sad to see
09:37my Republican colleagues
09:39contort themselves
09:41to support
09:42President Trump's lies.
09:44I expect that
09:45will continue today
09:46because of the limits
09:48placed on Mr. Smith's ability
09:49to testify
09:51by MAGA Loyalist Judge
09:53Aileen Cannon
09:54in the Trump administration.
09:57Judge Cannon
09:58has enjoined the release
09:59of Volume 2
10:00of the Special Counsel Report
10:02unclassified documents.
10:04And Mr. Smith himself
10:05is enjoined
10:06from providing information
10:08about that investigation
10:09unless the Justice Department
10:12makes that information public.
10:14Let me be clear.
10:15There was nothing untoward
10:17about Special Counsel Smith
10:19and his fellow prosecutors
10:21conducting this investigation.
10:23The aspersion
10:24cast on Mr. Smith
10:26nonstop
10:28are petty,
10:30personal,
10:30and political.
10:32They are nothing
10:33but a smokescreen
10:34to distract
10:35from the President's
10:36own clear,
10:38unlawful conduct.
10:40After years
10:41of whitewashing
10:42President Trump's crimes,
10:43my Republican colleagues
10:45can finally raise
10:46their concerns
10:47with the one person
10:48who can address them.
10:50Maybe this will finally
10:51free the committee
10:52from the endless,
10:54endless debate
10:55and base on baseless
10:57conspiracy theories
10:58and allow us
10:59to address real problems
11:01affecting the American people.
11:03I yield.
11:04Mr. Smith,
11:05would you please rise?
11:10You affirm
11:11that the testimony
11:12you're about to give
11:13before the committee
11:14will be the truth,
11:15the whole truth,
11:15and nothing but the truth.
11:17So help you God.
11:19You may proceed
11:20to your opening statement.
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