In a new opinion article for MS NOW, Duncan Levin analyzes House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan’s criminal referral of former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department. The referral alleges that Smith committed perjury during congressional testimony concerning the records obtained during his investigation of President Donald Trump.
Levin explains why political disagreement with a prosecutor’s investigative decisions is not evidence of a federal crime. A viable perjury prosecution requires proof that a witness knowingly made a materially false statement—not merely that lawmakers dispute the witness’s characterization of events. The article argues that using a criminal referral to transform a contested congressional exchange into a potential prosecution risks turning federal law enforcement into an instrument of political retaliation.
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