Former Special Counsel Jack Smith told the House Judiciary Committee in a closed-door deposition earlier this month that he did not believe the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, according to a transcript of the deposition released Wednesday. 

In 2022, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to handle the investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents, and to investigate Trump's 2020 election challenges.

The House Judiciary subpoenaed Smith for the deposition earlier this month, which took place on Dec. 17.

Smith told the committee that he had evaluated Hutchinson's testimony, which he had considered using in his prosecution of Trump over the 2020 election, but decided that it relied too much on hearsay.

Smith said Hutchinson was a "secondhand" or "third-hand" witness for the January 6 panel, and that he would have moved to prohibit some of her testimony from being used if he cross-examined her in court, according to Fox News.

"A number of the things that she gave evidence on were secondhand hearsay, were things that she had heard from other people and, as a result, that testimony may or may not be admissible, and it certainly wouldn’t be as powerful as firsthand testimony," he said.

Hutchinson testified in front the committee multiple times but largely testified about things she heard from other witnesses, including a claim that Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel from a U.S. Secret Service agent because he wanted to go to the Capitol and not the West Wing. The claim was later disputed by other witnesses.

Smith also told the committee that he was the one who decided to bring charges against Trump but denied that the prosecution and decision were politically motivated. 

“The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for nine of those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the 10 indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts,” Smith told the committee in his hours-long deposition.

The full transcript of Smith's deposition can be read here, and footage of the eight-hour deposition can be viewed here.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.