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WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

Jack Smith's Testimony, Tim Walz's Subpoena, and Bill Clinton's Contempt Vote

WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

The Wall Street Journal

News, Society & Culture

4.22.8K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Former special counsel Jack Smith says he has no real regrets about how he handled his indictments of Donald Trump. Really? Plus, the Justice Department gives a subpoena to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as a House committee calls to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt for refusing to testify on Jeffrey Epstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:05.0

We're invested in advancing science, giving adults who smoke better options.

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0:25.9

See how at uspMI.com.

0:32.4

From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.

0:38.7

Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies to the House of Representatives about his two

0:43.9

fruitless indictments of President Trump. The Justice Department delivers a subpoena to Minnesota

0:50.0

Governor Tim Walls, and a House committee calls for former President Bill Clinton to be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify on Jeffrey Epstein.

1:00.6

Welcome, I'm Kyle Peterson with the Wall Street Journal. We're joined today by my colleagues on the journal's opinion pages, columnists Alicia Finley, and Bill McGern. On Thursday, Jack Smith offered his first public testimony about his criminal cases against President Trump. As a reminder, the first of those concerned Trump's classified document stash at Marlago. The second concerned Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election leading up to

1:30.4

the riot on January 6th at the Capitol. Both cases then disappeared after Trump won the 2024

1:37.6

election, the judgment of the voters being passed on Jack Smith's efforts there. At the hearing,

1:43.3

there was plenty of partisan hooting and

1:45.0

hollering on other side, as might be expected, in the House Judiciary Committee. But here's a bit of

1:50.7

what Jack Smith said. I am not a politician, and I have no partisan loyalties. My career has been

1:58.6

dedicated to serving our country by upholding the rule of law.

2:02.6

I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump.

2:09.6

Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity.

2:18.3

If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so

2:25.3

regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican. No one. No one should be

...

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