Donald Trump renewed calls to throw former DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith in jail in a mid-morning fit.
“Deranged Jack Smith should be sitting in prison for all that he has done to disgrace our Country!” wrote the 79-year-old president in a Saturday Truth Social post.
Trump then linked to an article by conservative publication Just The News. It reported that Smith’s investigation paid $20,000 to an FBI source as Smith investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Though Just the News reported the email as a scandal and Trump used it to renew his demand that Smith, 56, be thrown in jail, it is not illegal for investigators to pay for information.
As stated in 18 U.S. Code § 2706, “a governmental entity obtaining the contents of communications, records, or other information… shall pay to the person or entity assembling or providing such information a fee for reimbursement for such costs as are reasonably necessary and which have been directly incurred in searching for, assembling, reproducing, or otherwise providing such information.”
The report from the conservative outlet came as part of a tranche of emails FBI director Kash Patel submitted to Congress about Operation Arctic Frost, the effort by Smith and the DOJ to investigate the “fake electors” scheme allegedly proposed by the Trump administration to ensure Trump didn’t leave office in 2020.
The record shows that an FBI agent provided information on the phone records of eight Republican Senators to the DOJ to help their investigation into the case.
“As discussed, request your office’s concurrence in our proposed payment of $20,000 for CHS’ provision of information in support of the investigation,” reads an email from an FBI agent to Counselor to the Special Counsel Raymond Hulser dated June 2, 2023. Hulser responded, “Concur, thank you.”
Those senators, including Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley, and others, have bristled over having their phone records searched by the DOJ as part of the investigation, with Graham and Blackburn threatening to sue.
Trump has long raged against Smith for his role in investigating the scheme to overturn the 2020 election results and the Mar-a-Lago mishandling of classified documents case, calling him “deranged” and “a real sleazebag.” He previously called for Smith’s imprisonment in October.
Trump’s attacks on Smith follow a pattern of Trump threatening prosecutors who have attempted to hold him legally accountable for his actions.
He has also raged at former FBI director James Comey, who investigated the 2016 Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who pursued fraud charges against Trump’s businesses. He hit both with legally dubious indictments, and the cases were thrown out in court.
Smith is set to publicly testify before Congress about his investigation into Trump in the coming weeks.
Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a closed-door hearing on Dec. 17, 2025. In his testimony, he said he had “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” to indict Trump on election interference charges and mishandling of classified documents.
