Jack Smith's closed-door testimony released by House Republicans after Judiciary Committee deposition

The former special counsel who brought charges against Trump during the Biden administration had wanted to testify in public, but Republicans refused his request.

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday released a full transcript and video of former special counsel Jack Smith's closed-door deposition before the Republican-led panel earlier this month.

The release consists of a 255-page transcript and more than eight hours of video. Smith sought to testify publicly, but his request was denied by Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.

In the deposition, a confident, candid and straight-to-the-point Smith described in great detail why he believed he had enough evidence to not only try but convict President Donald Trump of conspiracy to obstruct the certification of the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021, along with the other criminal charges against him in Washington, D.C., and Florida.

During his opening statement, Smith told lawmakers that his team found “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump engaged in a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith also testified that Trump “repeatedly tried to obstruct justice” in the classified documents case, as previously reported by NBC News.

Add NBC News to GoogleJack Smith says he could prove Trump engaged in 'criminal scheme' to overturn 2020 election02:59On the election interference case, Smith said Trump was “by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy,” and that there was strong evidence that Trump was spreading “claims that were so outlandish and so just fantastical” and continuing “to push those sort of claims after they’d been disabused.”