Jack Smith defends investigations into Trump during tense US Senate hearing

Former US special counsel rejects claims that his probes improperly targeted Republicans and conservative groups.Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended his investigations of President Donald Trump in a United States Senate hearing, though Republican lawmakers accused him of abusing his authority.On Tuesday, Smith told the Senate Judiciary Committee that his investigations followed Justice Department policy and were based on evidence.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3FBI agents who investigated Trump file lawsuit alleging retaliatory firinglist 2 of 3Key takeaways from Donald Trump’s controversial speech on election securitylist 3 of 3US intelligence director pick refuses to acknowledge Trump loss in 2020end of listHe rejected accusations that political considerations influenced his decision to bring criminal charges against Trump, the first US president ever to be indicted.“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation,” Smith said.A former war crimes prosecutor at The Hague, Smith was appointed special counsel in 2022 to independently investigate allegations about Trump’s behaviour ...