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BREAKING: Jack Smith Comes Out Swinging in Hearing | Morning Shots

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Egger, A. (2026, September 29). BREAKING: Jack Smith Comes Out Swinging in Hearing | Morning Shots. The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/breaking-jack-smith-comes-out-swinging

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The Bulwark · collected 2026-09-29 · by Andrew Egger commentary

Quick Summary

Jack Smith, during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump, asserting that it would have been the same regardless of Trump's political party affiliation. Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol analyzed this hearing on The Bulwark’s live video, focusing also on Republicans' emphasis on former special counsel Chuck Grassley. The article invites readers to subscribe for full access to discussions and analysis related to these events.
Written by AI on 2026-09-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Tuesday, former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Senator Chuck Grassley to defend his two criminal investigations into President Donald Trump. Republicans accuse Smith of abusing authority and politically targeting Republicans, while Democrats support him for standing up against Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and mishandling classified documents. The hearing, titled "Oversight of Jack Smith’s Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans," also involves scrutiny over subpoenas issued by Smith's office, which were aimed at disrupting certification of Joe Biden's victory in 2020, ultimately leading to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Smith has insisted his decisions were made without political bias and said he would not be silenced despite threats from Trump's Justice Department.

Written for “Jack Smith Testifies Before Senate” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 34 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Jack Smith Testifies Before Senate
Politics · 35 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Jack Smith to testify about Trump probes before Senate panel today Same event
CBS News
Hedges 4 of 43 claims Outlet record 66/100
Former special counsel Jack Smith to testify before Senate on Trump investigations Same event
ABC News (US)
Hedges 3 of 28 claims Outlet record 70/100
Ex-Trump prosecutor Smith will tell senators he won't 'be silenced' by threats of prosecution Same event
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 22 claims Outlet record 64/100
WATCH LIVE: Jack Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee Same event
Washington Examiner
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 70/100
Jack Smith testifies at Senate hearing, defending decision to charge Trump Same event
NBC News
Outlet record 60/100
Jack Smith dodges questions about spying on Republican lawmakers Same event
Washington Examiner
Hedges 6 of 54 claims Outlet record 70/100
‘You make me want to throw up’: Republicans attack ex-special counsel Jack Smith at Senate hearing Same event
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
September 29, 2026 Same event
Letters from an American
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 7 of 86 claims
Jack Smith fires back at Trump as explosive Senate hearing begins Same event
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 68/100
Jack Smith faces Senate grilling as Republicans press for criminal charges against him Same event
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 2 of 35 claims Outlet record 70/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
5
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 5 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
35
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 560 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Andrew Egger
15 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 A recording from The Bulwark’s live video Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol give their takes on Jack Smith’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Smith defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and said he would make the same decision regardless of whether Trump were a Republican or Democrat.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · BREAKING: Jack Smith Comes Out Swinging in Hearing | Morning Shots
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Also by Andrew Egger
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2026-10-30 · The Bulwark
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2026-10-28 · The Bulwark
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2026-10-22 · The Bulwark
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2026-10-16 · The Bulwark
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 15 articles by Andrew Egger →

Topics

Bulwark Democrat Republican Republicans the Senate Judiciary Committee

Subjects

Andrew Egger PERSON · 1× Bill Kristol PERSON · 1× Bulwark ORG · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Jack Smith PERSON · 1× Jack Smith’s PERSON · 1× Republican NORP · 1× Smith PERSON · 1× Trump PERSON · 1× the Senate Judiciary Committee ORG · 1×

Narrative

A recording from The Bulwark’s live video Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol give their takes on Jack Smith’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Smith defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and said he would make the same decision regardless of whether Trump were a Republican or Democrat.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-29
🔮 A recording from The Bulwark’s live video Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol give their takes on Jack Smith’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Smith defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and said he would make the same decision regardless of whether Trump were a Republican or Democrat.
2026-09-29 · The Bulwark
BREAKING: Jack Smith Comes Out Swinging in Hearing | Morning Shots · assertive framing

Claims (5 extracted, 0 hedged)

BREAKING: Jack Smith Comes Out Swinging in Hearing | Morning Shots asserted
Smith → break → Hearing
A recording from The Bulwark’s live video Andrew Egger and Bill Kristol give their takes on Jack Smith’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Smith defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and said he would make the same decision regardless of whether Trump were a Republican or Democrat. asserted
Trump → give → decision
They also discuss Republicans’ focus on the former special counsel, Chuck Grassley’ asserted
They → discuss → counsel
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