Congressional Oversight of DOJ

At a televised Jan. 22, 2026 House Judiciary hearing, former special counsel Jack Smith testified under oath that his investigation produced proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump was “by a large measure the most culpable” and caused what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and he defended subpoenas for phone and location data (including records for members of Congress) as lawful and evidence‑driven while saying charges were dropped after Trump’s 2024 victory pursuant to DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Smith said he could not discuss sealed portions of his classified‑documents report because of Judge Aileen Cannon’s order and grand‑jury secrecy, and rejected GOP accusations of politicization as unfounded amid questions about gag orders, subpoenas and payments to a confidential source.

Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to let them visit the minimum‑security federal prison in Texas holding Ghislaine Maxwell and to interview the warden, citing whistleblower reports that Maxwell is receiving preferential treatment. In a letter viewed by The New York Times, they say more than a dozen whistleblowers allege Maxwell has been allowed to use a laptop unsupervised and given bottled water while other inmates drink tap, and that at least one employee was fired after reporting her treatment to Congress in what would be an illegal act of retaliation. The lawmakers also quote documents indicating Warden Tanisha Hall threatened inmates who complained about Maxwell with solitary confinement or transfer to distant mixed‑sex prisons in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and warned them not to look at or speak to the press. If confirmed, the claims would raise fresh questions about favoritism and intimidation inside the Bureau of Prisons in a politically explosive case already under scrutiny because of Jeffrey Epstein’s death and earlier lapses in federal custody. The request sets up a direct oversight confrontation with Bondi’s Justice Department over access to the facility and protection for would‑be whistleblowers.