'Not going to be intimidated': Jack Smith vows to keep speaking out against 'corruption' under Trump

Attorney and former Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, Jack Smith, took a strong stance against the Trump administration on Thursday, refusing to stay silent against alleged corruption. Smith was the special counsel for two criminal investigations of President Donald Trump. One accused the President of making efforts to reverse the 2020 presidential election, and the other accused him of retaining classified government documents after leaving the White House in 2021.

"I am not going to be intimidated," he said to Nicolle Wallace on MS NOW’s 'Deadline: White House'. "If the thought was to go after me so that I wouldn't speak up about the corruption that's happening or speak up to defend these agents and prosecutors, that is a grave miscalculation. There is no way I am going to be intimidated," he said. The former special counsel alleged that the country was facing "an attack on the rule of law," and expressed concern about the next election, as per CNBC.

The two cases against Trump led to federal indictments but were dismissed after he returned to power. Since then, however, Smith has had to contend with endless verbal attacks from the President and his allies. "I was perfectly happy to bring this case if the facts and law warranted it or not," he said, as per MS Now. "It hasn't mattered what person's political party was to do that; that's how we went about our work. Completely apolitical. Politics did not play a role."

In 2025, Republicans in Congress launched an aggressive probe into his work as special counsel, in which they alleged that the prosecutions were politically motivated. Smith, on the other hand, empathized with pubic servants whom he believes were being "victimized" under the current administration. "One of the reasons I wanted to be here today in advance of the Fourth of July, celebrating the birth of a country that we all love, is to celebrate the public servants who do this work...It angers me to see them being victimized," he said.

While the Trump administration has made efforts to indict public servants like former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, the President has issued pardons to several people arrested due to their alleged roles in the January 6 Capitol riot. When asked about the pardons, Smith said that there were "obvious costs of recidivism." He also expressed concerns about the politicization of law enforcement.

"These are people who committed their crimes in the name and in the interest of Donald Trump, and he's returned the favor by pardoning them. That sends one message to them; a message I'm equally concerned about is the message that it sends to law enforcement. Supporting law enforcement should not be a political issue," he said. The former special counsel also accused President Trump of threatening to "jail" him.

"I know I need to get a lawyer because the president has said he wants to jail me for doing my job. And so I retain lawyers; as soon as that becomes public, the president and the justice department target that law firm, and they do it because they don't want me to have counsel," he said.