FILE - Special counsel Jack Smith speaks about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, at a Department of Justice office in Washington. Federal prosecutors in the case charging Trump with scheming to overturn the 2020 presidential election are seeking an order that would restri ct the former president from “inflammatory” and “intimidating” comments about witnesses, lawyers and the judge. Smith's team said in a motion filed Friday, Sept. 15, that such a “narrow, well-defined” order was necessary to preserve the integrity of the case and to avoid prejudicing potential jurors. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has defended his investigations of Donald Trump at a public congressional hearing. Smith insisted Thursday he had acted without regard to politics and had no second thoughts about the criminal charges he brought. Smith’s two criminal investigations shadowed Trump during his 2024 Republican presidential campaign. Smith testified behind closed doors last month but returned to the House Judiciary Committee for the public hearing. The hearing divided along partisan lines between Republican lawmakers looking to undermine Smith and Democrats hoping to elicit new and damaging testimony about Trump’s conduct in the Washington, D.C., and Florida cases. Trump’s administration is targeting the investigators who scrutinized him. ...read more read less