Transcript Shows Jack Smith Says Trump Privately Acknowledged 2020 Loss

The House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 31 made public a 255-page transcript of a closed-door deposition given by former special counsel Jack Smith on Dec. 17. In the document, Smith recounts private comments by former president Donald Trump that he said supported his view that Mr. Trump believed he had lost the 2020 presidential election and nonetheless took steps to change the outcome.

Smith told the committee that Mr. Trump had made remarks in the presence of others including, “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still fight like hell,” and, referring to President Joe Biden, “Can you believe I lost to this f’ing guy?” Smith said he found those statements corroborative of the larger investigation into attempts to overturn the election.

The transcript includes Smith’s blunt assessment of Mr. Trump’s role in the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Smith described the former president as the “most culpable and most responsible person” in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the election and said the Jan. 6 attack “does not happen” without his actions. Smith also told the committee that his investigation “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.”

Smith, who led multiple probes into Mr. Trump and pursued charges in high-profile cases that have become political lightning rods, repeatedly rejected Republican assertions that his work was politically motivated. “I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the Presidential election,” he told the committee, according to the transcript. He had asked to testify publicly but appeared behind closed doors.

The deposition spells out elements of Smith’s investigative strategy. He described relying on testimony from Trump allies who believed in him, and he said charging decisions for several prominent figures remained unresolved. Among those Smith said he had not yet determined whether to charge were attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman and political operative Boris Epshteyn.

The release of the transcript follows months of public testimony and disclosures from Trump appointees at the Justice Department and Republican lawmakers aimed at undermining the special counsel’s work. The disclosure also comes amid public threats from Mr. Trump toward Mr. Smith, a dynamic the transcript underscores as the special counsel defended the independence and evidentiary basis of his decisions.

Beyond the immediate legal ramifications, the transcript has broader significance for democratic norms internationally. The question of whether a former head of state can be held accountable for efforts to block a lawful transition speaks to how democracies manage the rule of law when institutions are stressed. For allies and adversaries watching, the proceedings are a test of U.S. legal resilience and political stability, and they may shape discourse about election integrity and the limits of executive power in democracies around the world.

The committee’s release is likely to intensify political debate and could influence forthcoming legal choices. Smith left clear that evidence, not politics, guided prosecutorial judgments, and he has signaled that further decisions on charges remain possible as investigations proceed.