Rep. Jordan Refers Jack Smith’s Former Aide to DOJ for Criminal Prosecution

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-La.) recommended to the Department of Justice (DOJ) that a member of former special counsel Jack Smith’s team be prosecuted for obstruction of justice for not answering the committee’s questions.

In a letter released by the Republican-controlled committee on Wednesday, Jordan cited former DOJ attorney Thomas Windom.

“Congress cannot perform its oversight function if witnesses who appear before its committees corruptly refuse to provide information that the law requires them to furnish,” Jordan said in the letter, which was submitted to Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The obstruction of a committee investigation undermines Congress’s core constitutional oversight obligations.”

Jordan also noted that Windom, as a former senior official under Smith, has “unique” and “firsthand” knowledge about the former special counsel’s investigation of President Donald Trump.

Even though the DOJ provided Windom with authorization to speak on the subject matter, he still “declined to answer questions during his deposition about topics necessary and relevant to the Committee’s inquiry,” according to the letter.

Windom would not answer questions during a Sept. 30 House deposition based on his assertion that the DOJ did not provide him with the authorization to testify on the topic, Jordan added.

“Windom declined to answer multiple questions during this transcribed interview on the inaccurate basis that DOJ had not authorized testimony about those topics,” the chairman added in the letter.

“Specifically, Windom’s counsel began the deposition by asserting numerous blanket objections to the Committee’s ability to depose Windom, including an unspecified First Amendment privilege, attorney-client privilege, a misguided belief that the Committee had no legitimate legislative purpose for the inquiry, and his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.”

A transcript that was provided in the letter to the DOJ shows that Windom’s attorney, Preston Burton, said that the committee was not carrying out a legitimate inquiry into the probe and had no oversight.

House Judiciary Republicans have “engaged in an unserious, performative exercise, convened for political theater,” he said in the hearing, according to the transcript. “Majority staff have demonstrated no respect for, nor understanding of, my client’s obligation to follow the laws, such as the grand secrecy rules—grand jury secrecy rules, violations of which carry criminal sanctions.”

The House Judiciary Committee has been investigating Smith’s probe into Trump’s efforts challenging the 2020 election results. Smith, who left the government before Trump took office a second time earlier this year, submitted a report in January defending the decision to bring charges against Trump and disputed allegations that he was under pressure from the Biden administration.

“It is equally important for me to make clear that nobody within the Department of Justice ever sought to interfere with, or improperly influence, my prosecutorial decision making,” Smith said in the Jan. 7 letter.

Aside from the 2020 election case, Smith was also tasked with investigating Trump on the alleged mishandling of classified documents after the FBI raided the president’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2022. Trump pleaded not guilty in both cases, saying that they were part of a longstanding effort to prevent him from being reelected.

In October, Jordan submitted a request to Smith asking him to testify before the Judiciary Committee over the investigation.

The Epoch Times contacted Windom’s attorney for comment on Wednesday.