Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) gave former Special Counsel Jack Smith an epic grilling at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday morning.
Kennedy accused Smith of partisan bias, of keeping a federal judge in the dark about his pursuit of congressional phone records, and of angling for the special counsel job in the first place. Smith spent the afternoon insisting he was a paragon of nonpartisan virtue, and Kennedy wasn't buying a word of it.
Kennedy opened by asking about Smith's reaction to President Donald Trump's 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.
"When President Trump defeated Secretary Clinton, you were bitterly disappointed, weren't you?" Kennedy asked.
"I don't recall that," Smith replied.
Imagine not recalling your own reaction to a presidential election. What a joke.
Kennedy then noted that Smith's wife is an ardent supporter of Barack and Michelle Obama who made a "glowing, saccharine-sweet documentary" about the former first lady and sold it to Netflix. Smith refused to discuss his family and kept reminding everyone that he'd taken two jobs in the first Trump administration.
Then Kennedy switched gears. "You asked General Garland to appoint you special counsel, didn't you?" He pressed.
Smith looked down and scribbled on his notepad. "I don't think that's accurate," he said. "He made the decision to appoint me."
When Kennedy asked whether Smith had people call then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to lobby for him, Smith scribbled some more and said he didn't recall anything like that. Then Kennedy asked if he really wanted the job, and Smith launched into a speech about his own impartiality.
"I accepted the position as special counsel because I had spent 30 years as a nonpartisan prosecutor," Smith claimed. "I had investigated every sort of criminal case you could possibly imagine, and I thought I was qualified to do the job. I knew that I would do it independently, and I would conduct it the same way whether it were Republican or a Democrat."
Kennedy watched him deliver that absurd claim with the patience of a man who knew exactly where this was going.
Senator John Kennedy just took a full minute to EXPOSE former special counsel Jack Smith’s alleged Democrat connections.
— Overton (@overton_news) September 29, 2026
Smith was squirming throughout the entire exchange and REFUSED to answer a single question.
Kennedy had him dead to rights, and he knew it.
KENNEDY: “When… pic.twitter.com/2jEFRTdJor
Next, Kennedy zeroed in on Smith's pursuit of phone records belonging to members of Congress, which Smith's team obtained through Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.
"When you went to Judge Boasberg, you didn't even tell him you were seeking the phone records of members of Congress, did you?" Kennedy asked. "Because you knew he wouldn't agree. He would say, 'Hey, counselor, anybody who knows a law book from a J.Crew catalog knows that this violates the Constitution.' But you didn't tell him, did you?"
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Smith tried twice to explain the non-disclosure orders his team sought, and Kennedy cut him off both times. Then the disgusted senator delivered the line of the day. "You didn't tell him. But you're unbiased. You have no personal feelings," Kennedy said. "You make me want to throw up in my mouth."
Kennedy to Jack Smith: You make me want to throw up in my mouth. pic.twitter.com/QPnfsKFZ0s
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 29, 2026
Another satisfying moment came when Kennedy got Smith to admit he told Garland twice that he planned to prosecute Trump. Smith said he had "absolutely no idea" whether Garland then checked with President Joe Biden. So Kennedy walked him through it, getting Smith to concede that Garland was experienced and intelligent.
"Is he a dummy?" Kennedy asked.
"That was not my experience," Smith said.
"Yeah, mine neither," Kennedy said. "So you're telling me that you're about to prosecute a former president of the United States — first time in history. Not only that, you're about to prosecute a former president of the United States who's also the current opponent of Judge Garland's boss. And you told Judge Garland, 'Here's what I'm about to do.' And you don't think he checked with President Biden to see if it was okay?"
Smith pleaded ignorance again, so Kennedy tried a different line of questioning.
"You don't know anything about that. Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy?" Kennedy asked.
"I do not," Smith answered.
"How about the Easter Bunny?" Kennedy continued.
"I no longer believe in the Easter Bunny," Smith said.
Kennedy then asked whether Smith thought Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes. Smith said he didn't.
Senator Kennedy to Jack Smith:
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) September 29, 2026
“You make me wanna throw up in my mouth“ pic.twitter.com/3K4x7WSwCb
You have to love Kennedy. Smith has given up on the Easter Bunny, yet he still expects Americans to believe that Garland greenlit the first federal prosecution of a former president, who was also Biden's chief political rival, without so much as a heads-up to the White House. Smith brought two federal indictments against Trump and dropped both after voters sent Trump back to the White House in November 2024.
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