By Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — Jim Jordan, the Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he has issued a subpoena to former Special Counsel Jack Smith to privately testify before the committee in mid-December.

The subpoena follows Smith’s continued calls to allow him to testify publicly about his investigations and cases against President Donald Trump.

In the letter to Smith, which Jordan shared on X on Wednesday, the congressman asks for Smith’s testimony and related documents. Jordan wrote that the committee was still investigating the former special counsel, “specifically, your team’s prosecution of President Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants.”

Peter Koski, an attorney for Jack Smith, said in a statement to CNN that Smith “looks forward to meeting with the committee later this month to discuss his work and clarify the various misconceptions about his investigation.”

The letter requests a deposition instead of public testimony as Smith has previously volunteered.

“Nearly six weeks ago Jack offered to voluntarily appear before the House Judiciary committee in an open hearing,” the lawyer’s statement said. “We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics.”

Republican lawmakers, including in the Senate, have ramped up their criticism of Smith in recent months, highlighting lawful subpoenas of certain lawmakers’ phone records around the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Smith has continued to say he would publicly testify over his investigations into and cases against Trump.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking democratic member on the committee, lamented in a public statement that Jordan had “denied” Smith’s “offer to speak publicly” on the Trump investigations.

“Instead,” Raskin wrote, Jordan was now demanding Smith “comply with a subpoena for a closed-door, private session simply so Republicans can spin, distort, and cherry-pick his remarks through press leaks.”

“What are our colleagues so afraid of, that they won’t let the American people hear directly from the Special Counsel?” Raskin asked.

The-CNN-Wire
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