Justice Department Blocks Jack Smith Testimony in Trump Suit

The Justice Department refused to let former special counsel Jack Smith testify in Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Law

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a simplified federal government building silhouette in deep red and cream, centered against a plain field, evoking institutional restraint in a political legal dispute. — The Justice Department refused to let former special counsel Jack Smith testify in Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, citing grand jury secrecy and classified information. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should the Justice Department be able to block a former special counsel from testifying?

The Justice Department refused permission for Jack Smith to testify in Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, citing grand jury secrecy, classified information and privilege. The filing came in a letter submitted Monday night.

Why it matters

The BBC wants Smith's evidence on Trump's efforts to contest the 2020 election, arguing it could show Trump helped cause the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The ruling leaves unresolved how much of the investigation's record can reach civil litigation.

The Justice Department cited law enforcement privilege and executive privilege in its Monday night letter, and Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett has ruled Smith holds information relevant to the case. The government's secondhand-knowledge argument about Smith's Jan. 6 information has not been resolved by the court.

The players

Jack Smith

Jack Smith is a former special counsel who led federal investigations into Donald Trump's efforts to contest the 2020 election.

Enjoliqué Lett

Enjoliqué Lett is a U.S. magistrate judge who ruled that Smith has information relevant to Trump's Jan. 6 speech and the Capitol attack.

U.S. Department of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice is the federal agency responsible for federal law enforcement and prosecution, and it opposed Smith's testimony in this case.

The details

Trump sued the BBC in December over a documentary that combined two parts of his Jan. 6 speech, which he argues falsely suggested he encouraged the attack. The Justice Department argued that Smith's knowledge of the attack is secondhand and that disclosure could expose grand jury secrets and classified information.

December: Trump files suit against the BBC over the documentary edit.
Last month: The Justice Department allows Smith to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Monday night: The Justice Department files its letter refusing Smith testimony in the BBC case.

Political Context

The Justice Department's objection rests on protecting grand jury material and privileged executive information, a position that limits how investigative records from the Jan. 6 probes can be used in outside lawsuits. The BBC's effort to reach that evidence through civil discovery tests how far such protections extend against a sitting public figure's defamation claim.

The ruling determines whether investigative materials from the Jan. 6 probes can be pulled into private defamation suits, which affects how records from federal cases may be used. The outcome also shapes what public accounts of the Capitol attack can be tested in court.

The takeaway

Civil lawsuits can become a route for reaching evidence gathered in criminal investigations, but grand jury secrecy and privilege claims can limit that access. Readers should watch whether the magistrate judge's ruling holds and how much of Smith's testimony reaches the public record.