Former US Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has defended the integrity of federal investigations into President Donald Trump, rejecting claims of political bias during a public event at UCL.
In a rare interview, Smith told the UCL Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism (GCDC)-organised event - the first in a series of talks looking at US democracy - that his investigation into former President Donald Trump was not politically motivated.
He said: "The idea that politics played a role in who worked on that case, or who got chosen, is ludicrous."
Smith led two federal investigations that resulted in unprecedented indictments against a former president, when Trump was charged in 2023 - one case concerning his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the other involving his handling of classified materials after leaving office and the obstruction of government efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty in both cases and denied any wrongdoing.
Both cases were dismissed following Trump's re-election in 2024, consistent with a justice department policy barring indictment of a sitting president, which Trump became again in January 2025.
Smith, who resigned from the justice department in January, said in the interview, which was posted online on October 14, that his special counsel team had acted independently and were not interested in politics.
He said: "Those people I brought in were all former longtime, former federal prosecutors who had worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations over and over again. These are team players who don't want to do anything but good in the world. They're not interested in politics.
"I get very concerned when I see how easy it is to demonize these people for political ends when these are the very sort of people I think we should be celebrating. The idea that politics would play a role in big cases like this, it's absolutely ludicrous and it's totally contrary to my experience as a prosecutor."
Smith emphasised the importance of impartiality and integrity in public service, warned of threats to nonpartisan public servants, and called for renewed commitment to democratic values.
Opening the event, Erin Delaney, GCDC Director and Leverhulme Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law at UCL Laws, highlighted the importance of upholding democracy and the rule of law. She stressed that democratic governance enhances our ability not only to thrive as individuals and societies but also to meet global challenges ranging from climate change and pandemics to mass migration and global security.
Given the increasingly prevalent trend of democratic backsliding around the world, Professor Delaney emphasised the importance of the current political moment, noting the GCDC's commitment to advancing high-quality academic research aimed at addressing this crisis.
During the conversation, Smith reflected on his roles as Prosecutor in the International Criminal Court and Special Counsel at the US Department of Justice. He explained that in conducting investigations, the integrity of the process matters more than the outcome. The process, he argued, must remain apolitical and should not be shaped by any desire to reach a predetermined outcome.
Smith argued that to build trust in government institutions, actors must have competence, act with integrity, and be able to communicate their competence and integrity to the public. Smith warned that attacks on nonpartisan public servants in the US will come at a high cost, affecting not only the personal lives of those being targeted but also the wider society.
Smith concluded with a call to public service, encouraging reflection on what truly matters, such as upholding the rule of law and democracy, and urged individuals to find new and unconventional ways to contribute to the solution.
He was interviewed by Andrew Weissmann, Professor of Practice at New York University and Sidney Distinguished Visitor at the GCDC.
The interview, part of the launch of the GCDC's new speaker series The State of the United States, has been widely covered by the media including The Guardian, NBC News, The New York Times, MSNBC, and CNN.
The series aims to engage leading US experts on questions of democracy and constitutionalism in the Trump era.
