President Donald Trump erupted on Truth Social on Thursday, calling former special counsel Jack Smith a “deranged animal” and urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute him, just hours after Smith publicly defended his investigations before Congress.
“Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post, accusing Smith of destroying lives and running what he called a “Democrat scam.” Trump said a “big price should be paid” for the investigations brought against him and suggested Bondi should examine Smith’s conduct.
The post came as Smith appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time since resigning as special counsel, where he stood by the criminal cases he brought against Trump and said he would do so again under the same evidence.
“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump,” Smith told lawmakers in his opening statement, via the UK Independent. “If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”
Smith said his team developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in criminal activity related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s Truth Social post struck a far more incendiary tone. He accused Smith of “unfair prosecutions,” attacked the credibility of witnesses used in the cases against him, and claimed the investigations were politically motivated from the start.
“Hopefully the Attorney General is looking at what he’s done,” Trump wrote, adding that Smith and Democrats had put the country through “absolute hell.”
🚨HOLY HELL!! Jamie Raskin obliterates Trump’s smear machine by laying out Jack Smith’s entire career – and the real reason Trump wants him in prison:
⁰“He says you belong in prison, not because you did anything wrong… but because you did everything right.”
RASKIN: “Mr. Smith,… pic.twitter.com/Xg79AqnrjH
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) January 22, 2026
The former special counsel was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee two sprawling federal investigations, which resulted in more than 40 criminal charges against Trump. One case focused on efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election, while the other examined the retention of classified documents after Trump left office.
Neither case ultimately reached trial. A Trump-appointed judge dismissed the documents case in 2024 over questions about Smith’s appointment, while the election interference case was dropped after Trump won the 2024 election and returned to the White House, triggering long-standing Justice Department policy barring prosecution of a sitting president.
Republicans on the Judiciary Committee used Thursday’s hearing to accuse Smith of running a partisan operation. Chair Jim Jordan said the investigations were “always about politics,” while Democrats warned that attacks on Smith were part of a broader effort to intimidate prosecutors.
“If any of our colleagues choose to vilify you today, they will only be revealing their own ignorance,” Rep. Jamie Raskin said, adding that criticism of Smith appeared designed to appease Trump.
🚨WOW: In the middle of Jack Smith’s testimony, Rep. Neguse read Trump’s latest unhinged post out loud calling Smith a “deranged animal” and demanding Pam Bondi “investigate” him.
This is the mob boss playbook:
Sic your DOJ on the prosecutor.
Intimidate witnesses. Threaten… pic.twitter.com/pbkrFDrNbs
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) January 22, 2026
Smith resigned earlier this month after submitting his final reports to the Justice Department. One report detailing alleged election subversion has been released, while a second volume related to the classified documents investigation remains sealed under court order.
Trump has repeatedly threatened retaliation against Smith, describing him in past statements as a criminal who should be in prison. Thursday’s post marked one of his most aggressive attacks yet, directly calling for potential prosecution of the man who once led the cases against him.
The clash underscored how Trump’s return to office has not cooled the legal and political fallout of the investigations, even as the former prosecutor insisted before Congress that the evidence still speaks for itself.
