Remember how in a recent column of mine we were discussing this wholly ridiculous referral to the AG because Mr. Smith is not a mind reader? Gym Jordan trying to find something, anything he can use to get Mr. Smith up on charges? Well, Mr. Smith has replied to “the letter” via his lawyers, and it absolutely flattens Jordan. The premise for the referral was spurious. Time for the blowback. With no further ado, respect to Raw Story:
A letter from former special counsel Jack Smith’s lawyers went public Friday, calling Rep. Jim Jordan‘s (R-OH) criminal referral a bad-faith attack on a “nonpartisan public servant.” Attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote the letter July 22 to Jordan and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, calling the referral “spurious.” Legal journalist Roger Parloff posted a downloadable version Friday, calling it a “succinct demolition of Jim Jordan’s bad-faith accusations.”
The “wrote the letter” link takes you to it. It’s worth the time to read. It very quietly and very formally takes the arguments of the referral and rebuts them point by point. It sounds exactly like something Mr. Smith would say. And it’s not written in legalese that’s difficult to understand. Even Jordan and Blanche should understand it, because it’s very straightforward and tears apart the argument for Mr. Smith’s supposed action or inaction, depending on how you look at it.
Jordan referred Smith to the Justice Department last week, claiming Smith made false statements during his December 2025 deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. Smith had testified that his team had sought only call records from lawmakers during his investigations into Trump — call logs showing who called whom, with no message content. Jordan’s fallback, the letter said, was an “unprecedented theory” — that Smith committed perjury “not because of what he said, but because of what he did not say.” The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals already rejected that theory, the letter noted, citing a ruling that held witnesses are not required to volunteer answers to questions they were never asked.
That’s the point, isn’t it? He was supposed to answer something he hadn’t been asked. That’s … ridiculous. How do you get information like this before a grand jury, to bring someone up on charges because they didn’t speak? The lawyer would be laughed out of the room. It completely falls apart. No lawyer with any sense would take that on because how do you prosecute it? (You don’t.)
Former federal prosecutors have repeatedly criticized the legal theory put forth by Jordan. “This referral letter is an embarrassment,” CBS News quoted former federal prosecutor Kyle Freeny as saying. “If they have bad questions, they do not get the answers that they want. It’s almost like deposition 101,” Freeny added. //// Former prosecutor Gregory Rosen called the referral “legally untenable, if not ridiculous.” “If Congress wanted different answers, they should have asked different questions,” Rosen said. //// “President Trump has repeatedly ordered that Mr. Smith be prosecuted and jailed,” Breuer and Koski wrote. “That is not the rule of law.”
No, it isn’t. It’s part of the Revenge Tour™. How many other people is Trump going to try to get charged and jailed? Is there more of this to come? Comey, Leticia Smith, Comey again for SeashellGate, Jack Smith (of course), Letitia Smith again …. If there are more, there was not much said about them, if anything. And in the background, Trump’s lackeys have also been attacking “blue” states, with ICE, and with freezing money because of “fraud”. The only fraud was DOGE. But for Mr. Smith, the answer has been made, clearly and distinctly: this letter by Jordan will not lead to a prosecution.
See you soon!
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