2026-09-29T18:28:10.458Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/29/politics/jack-smith-testimony-basketball-takeaways
曾在2023年对时任总统唐纳德·特朗普提起两项公诉的特别检察官杰克·史密斯于周二再次前往国会作证——此次是在参议院司法委员会面前。
史密斯的此番作证正值共和党持续调查针对特朗普的相关案件之际，包括特朗普总统在内的党内人士还多次推动对史密斯提起未经明确说明的刑事指控。
以下是周二听证会的主要核心结论。
共和党极力想要证实特朗普要求对史密斯提起刑事指控的诉求，但鲜少有像周二这样弄巧成拙的情况。
密苏里州参议员埃里克·施密特炮制了一个明显的阴谋论，称史密斯与佐治亚州富尔顿县对特朗普的起诉有关。为佐证这一理论，施密特援引了他所称的短信，这些短信显示史密斯曾于2024年2月3日到场观看亚特兰大老鹰队的比赛——也就是富尔顿县检察官范妮·威利斯和特别检察官内森·韦德承认婚外情的次日。
但史密斯显得十分错愕。他否认曾到场观看老鹰队的比赛，并表示自己完全不记得去过亚特兰大。
“如果我有一系列来自你团队的短信，显示你在2024年2月3日——也就是威利斯和韦德公布他们婚外情的次日——身处亚特兰大观看勇士对阵老鹰的比赛，你会作何解释？”施密特说道。
施密特在指控上大做文章，对史密斯说：“我认为你不知道我们掌握了这些证据。”他敦促史密斯不要“作伪证”。随后他还称史密斯为“人渣”。之后他在“查理·柯克秀”节目中表示，自己只是在提问，看看史密斯是否会落入圈套。
最终，民主党议员让施密特允许史密斯查看相关证据——一张包含上述短信的海报。其中一条短信显示，一名同事检察官询问是否为史密斯预留了座位。海报上还印有亚特兰大老鹰队的场馆。
但到这时，史密斯似乎理清了头绪。他表示自己并没有观看亚特兰大老鹰队的比赛，而是在华盛顿特区地区的马里兰大学观看了爱荷华大学鹰眼女子篮球队的比赛——当时这支球队的核心球员是凯特琳·克拉克。
https://www.cnn.com/
史密斯的回忆与当日进行的一场比赛相符。
明尼苏达州参议员艾米·克洛布查尔在澄清此事后表示，施密特应该道歉。
施密特的办公室尚未回复置评请求。
在听证会上，他仍坚称这些短信“显然可能与富尔顿县的起诉有关”。他还表示自己坚持称史密斯为“人渣”的言论。
这一幕典型地体现了共和党针对史密斯、特朗普的对手以及指控司法系统针对特朗普被武器化的言论是多么缺乏依据、多么站不住脚。同样，共和党对史密斯的另一项主要伪证指控，也完全是对证据的误读。
但很少有这样一次看似钓鱼式的调查被如此彻底地揭穿。施密特似乎笃定自己抓住了史密斯的把柄，但仅仅几分钟后，他的指控就土崩瓦解——而且垮得相当彻底。
史密斯是一位极为谨慎的证人。他在回答问题前常常会明显停顿，这种方式有时会让人有些措手不及。
但他也明确表示，要回击特朗普政府将司法系统武器化以对付像他这样的人的行径。而在周二的听证会上，他表现得比以往更加活跃、更加坦诚。
https://www.cnn.com/
他在开场陈述的结尾说道：“恐惧或许会传染；勇气亦是如此。”
他还称，与他共事过的同事“遭到非法 targeting、被非法解雇、生活被这个司法部彻底颠覆”，这是一种“暴行”。
当被问及最高法院2024年赋予总统大幅豁免权的裁决时，史密斯表示，让有权势的人从这类豁免中获益“对法治而言可能非常危险”。
与以往相比，他与议员们的交锋也更多，而非只是干巴巴地陈述事实。
当共和党籍德克萨斯州参议员特德·克鲁兹问他是否有任何遗憾时，史密斯表示，他遗憾的是“与我共事的人被不公平地解雇和诋毁”。
当共和党籍南卡罗来纳州参议员达琳·格雷厄姆声称史密斯不公平地调取了她已故兄长林赛·格雷厄姆参议员的电话记录时，史密斯告诉她，林赛·格雷厄姆曾调查特朗普所谓的选民欺诈指控，并认定这些指控是虚假的。
他还表示，自己不会悄然退出。
“我不会被总统或其他人持续发出的起诉威胁所噤声，”史密斯说道。
这次与达琳·格雷厄姆的交锋，也为了解针对特朗普的未遂起诉提供了新的信息。
原因在于，史密斯表示林赛·格雷厄姆很可能会成为该案的证人。
“我认为你的兄长是一位爱国的公职人员，”史密斯说。“他并不是我们调查的目标。事实上，他很可能会成为我们案件中的证人。你的兄长调查了唐纳德·特朗普提出的指控，并认定这些指控是虚假的。”
1月6日事件后，林赛·格雷厄姆在参议院公开与特朗普决裂（即“我不支持你”），并似乎最初对调查此事的调查人员提供了帮助。
但后来他与特朗普重归于好，当他的电话记录也被纳入调查范围时，他开始抨击史密斯的调查，甚至推动为此获得经济赔偿。
史密斯的言论表明，格雷厄姆至少在证明对特朗普的指控方面发挥了一定作用。
这位前特别检察官似乎特意多次为那些被特朗普司法部解雇的前同事辩护，这些人在周二的听证会上也被多次点名提及。
史密斯甚至称他们为“英雄”。
“我的看法是：这些人是英雄，我认为我们国家没有认可和足够重视这样的人，”他说。“我认为如果我们做到了这一点，我们今天讨论的这些党派纷争——其中很多都会烟消云散。”
https://www.cnn.com/
史密斯还警告说，将这类人员驱逐出公职会给国家带来怎样的后果。
“如果你将这些人赶出公共服务领域，我们赖以实现正义、保卫国家的机构——这些机构将会被削弱，”史密斯说道。
当民主党籍加利福尼亚州参议员亚当·希夫谈到史密斯如何遭到攻击时，史密斯表示，“更重要的是，我们不要再诋毁与我共事的公职人员。”
距离特朗普与时任司法部长帕姆·邦迪一同声称史密斯犯下了罪行已经过去了近一年。
“希望司法部长正在调查他的所作所为，”八个月前特朗普在社交媒体上补充道。
自那以后，几乎没有迹象表明特朗普政府能够满足他的诉求。而周二的听证会在很大程度上更像是走走过场。
除了施密特试图设下陷阱之外，其他共和党议员的提问大多重复了众议院司法委员会1月听证会上已经讨论过的内容。
密苏里州参议员乔希·霍利等人重复了数月前的一项指控，称史密斯在否认寻求获取议员通讯内容时作了伪证，但史密斯指出了这一此前已被驳倒的理论的漏洞。
路易斯安那州参议员约翰·肯尼迪曾试图暗示，史密斯可能曾自荐担任特别检察官——言下之意是他怀有政治目的，刻意针对特朗普，但当史密斯否认这一点时，肯尼迪便转移了话题。
史密斯还告诉议员们，他之所以对自己寻求调取的电话和其他记录保密，是因为担心特朗普及其盟友会试图妨碍司法公正。
当议员们暗示，史密斯提出保密要求是在暗示他们不可信任，可能会销毁证据时，史密斯表示，他真正担心的其实是特朗普。
“我们的保密令并非基于国会成员或本委员会成员会实施妨碍司法行为的假设，”史密斯说。“这是基于一种切实的担忧，即唐纳德·特朗普及其同伙会这么做，因为他们已经这么做过，而且还会再做一次。”
https://www.cnn.com/
史密斯指出，针对特朗普的指控中包含妨碍司法公正的罪名，还提到特朗普曾一度提议对知名证人、前参谋长联席会议主席马克·米利将军处以死刑。
“我们有绝对的依据为我们的调查寻求保护，免受此类妨碍行为的影响，”史密斯补充道。
An embarrassing moment for the GOP, a confident witness and other takeaways from Jack Smith’s hearing
2026-09-29T18:28:10.458Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/29/politics/jack-smith-testimony-basketball-takeaways
Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two indictments against now-President Donald Trump in 2023, testified in front of Congress again on Tuesday — this time, to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Smith’s testimony comes as Republicans continue to probe the investigations into Trump and as some in the party, including the president, have pushed for often-unspecified criminal charges to be brought against Smith.
Here are the major takeaways from Tuesday’s hearing.
Republicans have struggled mightily to substantiate Trump’s desire for Smith to be charged criminally. But rarely has it seemed to backfire like it did Tuesday.
Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri crafted an apparent conspiracy theory about Smith being tied to the prosecution of Trump in Fulton County, Georgia. To substantiate his theory, Schmitt cited text messages he suggested showed Smith had been at an Atlanta Hawks game on February 3, 2024 – the day after Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade admitted to an affair.
Smith appeared dumbfounded, though. He denied going to a Hawks game and said he had no recollection of even being in Atlanta.
“What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors-Hawks game on February 3, 2024 – the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair?” Schmitt said.
Schmitt went big on the allegation, telling Smith, “I don’t think you know that we have this stuff.” He urged Smith not to “perjure yourself.” He later called Smith a “dirtbag.” He later told the “Charlie Kirk Show” that he was just asking questions and seeing whether Smith would ensnare himself.
Eventually, Democrats got Schmitt to allow Smith to actually review the evidence – a poster featuring the texts in question. In one of them, a fellow prosecutor asks about a seat being reserved for Smith. The poster showed the Atlanta Hawks’ arena.
But by this point, Smith seemed to put it together. He said he was not at a game featuring the Atlanta Hawks, but rather the University of Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team – which then featured Caitlin Clark – at the University of Maryland in the Washington, DC, area.
https://www.cnn.com/
Smith’s recollection matches up with a game played that day.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, after clearing up the matter, said Schmitt should apologize.
Schmitt’s office has not responded a request for comment.
At the hearing, he maintained that the texts “could have obviously been related to the prosecution” in Fulton County. He said he stood by calling Smith a “dirtbag.”
The scene epitomized how speculative and thinly constructed the GOP’s allegations about Smith, Trump’s foes and about the justice system being weaponized against Trump have been. Likewise, the GOP’s other major perjury allegation against Smith rests on a complete misreading of the evidence.
But rarely has this apparent fishing expedition been laid so bare. Schmitt seemed to firmly believe he had nailed Smith on something. But just minutes later, it seemed to fall apart – and rather spectacularly so.
Smith is a very careful witness. He often pauses noticeably before answering a question — in a way that can be a little jarring.
But he’s also made clear that he wants to fight back against the Trump administration’s weaponization of the justice system against people like him. And on Tuesday, he was a little more animated and open.
https://www.cnn.com/
He punctuated his opening statement by saying, “Fear may be contagious; courage is as well.”
He also called it an “outrage” that people he worked with were “targeted illegally, lost their jobs illegally, and had their lives turned upside down by this Department of Justice.”
When asked about the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling conferring presidents with a large degree of immunity, Smith said it “can be very dangerous for the rule of law” for powerful people to benefit from such exceptions.
He also jousted with lawmakers a little more than he did before, rather than dryly reciting facts.
When GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas asked him whether he had any regrets, Smith said he regretted that “the people I worked with have been unfairly fired and vilified.”
When Republican Sen. Darline Graham of South Carolina claimed Smith unfairly targeted the phone records of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Smith told her that Lindsey Graham had investigated Trump’s underlying voter-fraud claims and found them to be false.
And he said he won’t be going away quietly.
“I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from the president or others,” Smith said.
That exchange with Darline Graham was also significant when it comes to learning something new about the attempted prosecutions of Trump.
The reason: Smith said Lindsey Graham was likely to be a witness in the case.
“I believe your brother was a patriotic public servant,” Smith said. “He was not a target of our investigation. In fact, he likely would have been a witness in our case. Your brother investigated the claims that Donald Trump was making. He found them to be false.”
Lindsey Graham publicly broke with Trump on the Senate floor after January 6 (i.e. “count me out”) and appeared to be initially helpful to investigators probing the situation.
He later reconciled with Trump and assailed Smith’s investigation when he was among those whose phone records were wrapped up in the probe — and even pushed to get a financial payout for it.
Smith’s comments suggest Graham could have played at least some role in proving the charges against Trump.
The former special counsel seemed to make a point to repeatedly vouch for members of his former staff who were fired by Trump’s Justice Department and, in some cases, were repeatedly invoked by name at Tuesday’s hearing.
Smith even called them “heroes.”
“My view: These people are heroes, and I believe our country does not recognize and pay enough attention to people like that,” he said. “I think if we did, the partisan things that we’re discussing today – a lot of that would go away.”
https://www.cnn.com/
Smith also warned about what ousting people like that would portend for the country.
“If you drive those people out of public service, the institutions we rely on for justice, for protecting our country — those institutions are weakened,” Smith said.
When Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California talked about how Smith had been attacked, Smith said it was “much more important that the public servants who I work with – that we stop vilifying public servants.”
It’s been nearly a year since Trump appeared alongside then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and claimed Smith had committed crimes.
“Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done,” Trump added eight months ago on social media.
There’s been little since then to suggest the Trump administration is able to provide him what he wants. And Tuesday’s hearing often felt like going through the motions more so than anything else.
Apart from Schmitt’s attempt at a gotcha, other Republican lawmakers generally mined territory already covered in the January House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and others repeated an allegation from months ago that Smith perjured himself with his denials about seeking the contents of lawmakers’ communications. But Smith pointed to the holes in that previously debunked theory.
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana at one point tried to suggest that Smith might have lobbed to become special counsel — the implication being that he had a political agenda and was targeting Trump — but when Smith denied it, Kennedy moved on.
Smith also told lawmakers that he sought to keep secret the phone and other records he was seeking because of concerns that Trump and his allies would try to obstruct justice.
When lawmakers suggested that Smith was implying with the nondisclosure requests that they couldn’t be trusted not to destroy evidence, Smith said it was actually Trump he was worried about.
“Our nondisclosure orders were not predicated on the idea that members of Congress or members of this committee would commit acts of obstruction,” Smith said. “It was based on a real concern that Donald Trump and his associates would do that because they had done it, and they did it again.”
https://www.cnn.com/
Smith cited the fact that the charges against Trump included obstruction of justice and also how Trump had at one point suggested the death penalty for a known witness, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
“We had an absolute basis to seek protection of our investigation from that sort of obstruction,” Smith added.
发表回复