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Jack Smith, the former justice department special counsel who led the aborted federal prosecution of Donald Trump<\/a>, told a congressional committee that he never spoke to Joe Biden<\/a> about his cases, according to the transcript of a deposition<\/a> released on Wednesday.<\/p>\n In his behind-closed-doors testimony to the House judiciary committee earlier this month, Smith defended the charges<\/a> he brought against Trump for allegedly possessing classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election<\/a>, while warning of the consequences of allowing election meddling to go unpunished.<\/p>\n \u201cTheoretically, what happens if there is election interference and the people who are responsible for that are not held accountable?\u201d Democratic congresswoman Pramila Jayapal asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt becomes the new norm, and that becomes how we \u2026 conduct elections,\u201d Smith replied, according to the transcript.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so the toll on our democracy, if you had to describe that, what would that be?\u201d the congresswoman asked.<\/p>\n \u201cCatastrophic,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n Trump and his Republican allies have alleged that the former special counsel was a key figure in a justice department that Biden had \u201cweaponized\u201d against his predecessor. The Republican-controlled House judiciary committee earlier this year heard testimony from one of Smith\u2019s top deputies<\/a>, and months later subpoenaed the former special counsel for private testimony. Smith had offered to voluntarily testify in public, as special counsels typically do.<\/p>\n In questioning from Democratic congressman Dan Goldman, Smith said he operated without interference from Merrick Garland, the attorney general who appointed him, or any other top justice department officials.<\/p>\n \u201cDid President Biden ever give you any instructions about what you should or should not do related to these investigations?\u201d Goldman asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Smith replied, later specifying he had not spoken to Biden about his cases in any way.<\/p>\n Smith was appointed in November 2022, and quickly brought the two federal cases against Trump, who also faced state-level charges of election interference in Georgia, and falsifying business records in New York.<\/p>\n While he would later be convicted<\/a> of 34 felonies in the Manhattan case, neither of Trump\u2019s federal indictments went to trial before he returned to office following the 2024 election, after which Smith, in line with justice department policy, dropped the charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n The election-interference case was slowed by pretrial motions, including a supreme court ruling<\/a> that gave presidents immunity for official acts and forced Smith to make changes<\/a> to his case. The classified-documents case was hampered by rulings from Florida judge Aileen Cannon, who at one point dismissed Smith\u2019s indictment<\/a>.<\/p>\n