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Jack Smith takes a swipe at Trump

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Jack Smith, the Biden era special counsel under renewed scrutiny by congressional Republicans, is taking an apparent swipe at President Donald Trump.

In a new letter sent Friday to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), obtained by Blue Light News, lawyers for Smith argue that politics had no influence over their client’s investigations into Trump and agreed it would be unacceptable for any occupant of the White House to leverage law enforcement against a perceived enemy.

“Such political meddling in prosecutorial decision making undermines the credibility of the Justice Department and the integrity of any subsequent enforcement actions,” Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski, lawyers at the firm Covington & Burling, wrote to Grassley. “Political meddling in prosecutorial actions also risks turning impartial law enforcement agencies into partisan tools to protect the President’s allies and punish his perceived adversaries.”

It’s a not-so-veiled jab at Trump, who has faced scrutiny for publicly directing his attorney general to prosecute current or former government officials who investigated him or his campaign.

House and Senate Republicans have been probing whether Smith’s former investigations into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election were motivated by a desire to undermine Republicans. Many Republicans believe Smith’s work is evidence the Justice Department under then-President Joe Biden unfairly targeted conservatives, namely Trump.

Smith ultimately moved to dismiss the criminal cases he brought against Trump after his reelection in 2024, a decision Smith said was driven by Trump’s return to the White House and not the strength of the government’s case.

But Grassley and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) now want to hear from Smith regarding new revelations the ex-special counsel obtained the phone records of several congressional Republicans as a part of his investigation into Trump’s election interference.

Grassley has said he needs to first gather more information, and Jordan has requested a transcribed interview with Smith. But Smith, through lawyers, has maintained that he wants to speak with lawmakers in a public forum.

Grassley also has asked Smith to answer a number of questions about his investigations. Among them, Grassley wants to know whether he or his staff communicated with Biden White House officials as part of their work and the nature of those communications.

The Iowa Republican also requested further information on Smith’s move to obtain lawmakers’ phone records and information on whether Smith received the data of GOP donors.

In the new letter sent Friday, lawyers for Smith reiterated the request that their client testify in a public reform but did not answer Grassley’s questions.

“Mr. Smith is fully committed to providing information about the work of the Special Counsel’s Office, and we are committed to working with you to provide the public an opportunity to hear directly from Mr. Smith regarding his work,” the attorneys wrote.

Smith has asked the Department of Justice for guidance on what information he can share with lawmakers and for the ability to review files that supported his case to prepare his testimony.

The DOJ has indicated it received the letter and said it would provide more information but has yet to do so, according to a person granted anonymity to describe private correspondence.

A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment.

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Congress

House Republicans eye next week for housing bill vote

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House leadership is eyeing the week of Feb. 9 for a vote on a bipartisan housing package, according to four people with direct knowledge of the planning.

Senior lawmakers have also been mulling whether to consider the widely supported bill under suspension of House rules, which would expedite passage of the legislation, said three of the people who were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

However, plans for the bill are not locked in and could be subject to change as the House deals with a partial government shutdown.

The Housing in the 21st Century Act, which overwhelmingly advanced through the House Financial Services Committee in December, is part of a push by Congress to pass legislation that could address a growing housing affordability crisis. The bill includes 25 provisions that aim to increase the housing supply, modernize local development and rural housing programs, expand manufactured and affordable housing, protect borrowers and those utilizing federal housing programs, and enhance oversight of housing providers.

House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) said Friday that he’s pushing for the Housing for the 21st Century Act to receive a floor vote expeditiously.

”I hope that that bill can come to the House floor in just a few days. I really am pushing for that, I think it’s the right decision,” Hill said on Bloomberg Radio.

The Senate’s housing bill, the ROAD to Housing Act, passed the upper chamber as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act but may be put to a separate floor vote. If the House is able to pass its own version by a wide margin before the Senate, it could have additional leverage for negotiations with the upper chamber for a final bill. Hill and other House Republicans have said the Senate bill, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate Banking Committee, has a number of provisions that would not be acceptable among House GOP members.

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Congress

Bill and Hillary Clinton now agree to testify before Congress

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Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of the panel’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an Oversight aide said Monday evening.

It’s a remarkable reversal for the former president and secretary of state, who were adamant they would defy committee-issued subpoenas and risk imprisonment by the Trump Justice Department as the House prepared to vote Wednesday to hold them both in contempt of Congress.

After both skipped their scheduled depositions earlier this year, the Oversight Committee voted on a bipartisan basis in January to approve contempt measures for each of them.

Although both have said they had no knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, they have maintained that the subpoenas were not tied to a legitimate legislative purpose, rendering them invalid. They also complained the GOP-led exercise was designed to embarrass and put them in jail.

It is not immediately clear when they will appear and if the House will continue to pursue the contempt votes.

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Top House Democrats split on funding vote

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Senior House Democrats are going in different directions on a massive funding bill headed to the House floor as soon as Tuesday, underscoring the sharp divisions inside the Democratic ranks on the $1.2 trillion spending package.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Monday she would vote for the funding package when it goes to the floor Tuesday — breaking with a large swath of colleagues who oppose the measure over its extension of Homeland Security funding, including immigration enforcement operations.

“I will support this package,” DeLauro said during Monday meeting of the Rules Committee. She noted it secures funding for the five-full year, bipartisan bills and extends funding at current levels for DHS for 10 days.

DeLauro said without the DHS stopgap Democrats “won’t be able to bring the kinds of pressure” necessary to make changes to the full-year DHS bill they’re negotiating with the White House.

But Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Rules Democrat, said he was dead-set against the bill due to the DHS funding.

“I will not vote for business as usual while masked agents break into people’s homes without a judicial warrant, in violation of the Fourth Amendment,” he said.

Neither leader, however, is expected to vote for a key procedural measure setting up a final debate and approval for the massive bill, which passed the Senate on Friday. That measure, known as a rule, is also expected to tee up contempt-of-Congress votes on Bill and Hillary Clinton over their decision not to fully cooperate in a Oversight Committee probe into Jeffrey Epstein. GOP leaders are scrambling to build support for that measure as some in their ranks agitate for amendments, including the attachment of a partisan elections bill.

“Republicans have a responsibility to move the rule, which, by the way, includes a wide variety of other issues that we strongly disagree with,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday.

Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.

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