New Docs Challenge Smith’s Claims on Trump Document Probe Start
Newly released records suggest Jack Smith misled on how Trump’s document probe began, raising questions about the investigation’s legitimacy.
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Newly released records obtained by the Daily Caller suggest former special counsel Jack Smith may have misled lawmakers and the public regarding the pretext for his investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents. The documents, first made public by the Senate Judiciary Committee, reveal that the National Archives’ internal watchdog did not classify its February 2022 message to the Justice Department as a criminal referral, contradicting Smith’s account of how the case began.
Archives Report Contradicts Smith’s Narrative
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) case report from February 2022, obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, notes that its message to the Justice Department was a referral, but not a criminal referral. Smith had previously claimed in court filings that the investigation was “prompted by NARA’s discovery of classified documents in the 15 boxes in January 2022 and a criminal referral from NARA in February 2022.”
The OIG case report clarifies that the matter was classified as a “referral to DOJ for their assessment and guidance,” not a criminal referral for prosecution. FBI messages included in the documents show that the bureau initially treated the missing documents complaint as a “spillage” issue with “little likelihood of being pursued as a criminal matter.”
Smith’s Office Edits DOJ Filings
The documents also reveal that NARA general counsel Gary Stern made substantive edits to DOJ court filings in the case, despite Smith’s office claiming NARA played no role in “prosecutorial strategy.” Smith secured two indictments charging Trump for alleged interference in the 2020 election and for alleged mishandling of classified documents, but was forced to drop both cases after Trump won the 2024 election.
In June 2023, Smith’s office received a massive trove from NARA: 54 spreadsheets of text messages from inside Trump’s orbit. Senior attorney Thomas Windom was eavesdropping on the conversations between Trump and his top advisors without first separating potentially privileged information.
Source: Daily Caller
