Jack Smith says Trump acknowledged to others that he lost 2020 election

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Reuters

January 2, 2026 5:15 AM EST Updated 5 hours ago


WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel who brought two now-dropped criminal cases against U.S. President Donald Trump, said that the Republican had acknowledged to others that he lost the 2020 election against former President Joe Biden, according to a transcript of a testimony by Smith.

The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Wednesday released 255 pages of transcript from Smith's testimony in mid-December, when he defended his investigation before the Republican-controlled panel. His private testimony came following months of disclosures from Trump appointees at the Justice Department and Republican lawmakers intended to discredit Smith's probe and bolster Trump's claims that the cases were an abuse of the legal system.

Publicly, Trump falsely claimed that he won the 2020 election. His supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Congress from certifying the results of the election. After taking office for a second time in January 2025, Trump pardoned the rioters. In the testimony, Smith was asked if Trump ever acknowledged "that he knew that he had actually lost the election" to Biden, according to the transcript.

"Yes," Smith replied. "So this paragraph references different statements that he made in the presence of other people. One is that, 'It doesn't matter if you won or lost the election. You still fight like hell.' And then the other was, 'Can you believe I lost to this f'ing guy?' referring to Joe Biden." The transcript showed Smith to be saying that he saw "these admissions as corroborative of the larger case."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/jack-smith-says-trump-acknowledged-others-that-he-lost-2020-election-2026-01-01/

[Fiendish Thingy]

1. These are not new revelations.

But it’s nice to have Smith himself remind folks of them.

[Justice matters.]

5. Also, what is not emphasized enough by the "medias" is,

that he can back up his statements with real testimony from witnesses under Oath (lying to prosecutors - and in Court as well - is a punishable crime) so it's not "hersay" by any comparison to the constant lies (statements issued without any real evidence provided by a convicted conman).

[Whyisthisstillclose]

2. The only ones who believed the bullshit were the MAGA morons. And they still do...

[Bayard]

6. People died for his lies

He didn't care then, or now.

I still firmly believe Musk handed the last election to him. So, even more people have died with him installed in office, and many more to come.

[31st Street Bridge]

3. He lost in '24, too

But please don't mention it.

[NJCher]

4. Right

just today Lulu announced they have appealed the Rockland case. If you recall, the complaint's witnesses were scared off. Now they have new ones to appeal the "no standing" decision by the judge.

[CNYHarris]

7. Except the Rockland votes make sense if you have a sense of the Orthodox Jews there

Hassidic/Orthodox Jews are a very tight knit group that defend their own interests as a group. As maga vote as a block, Orthodox Jews vote more as a block. Expect to be disappointed.

[NJCher]

11. we always get posts like this

when we discuss how the vote doesn't add up.

I don't expect to be disappointed.

Hang it up. We're on to you and your "techniques."

[Ms. Toad]

13. Because when you "discuss how the vote doesn't add up"

You sound just like Trump and his cronies complaining about 2020.

In both instances, the claims are nonsense.

[NJCher]

14. this is perhaps one of the biggest

thinking errors a poster can make:

"You sound just like Trump and his cronies complaining about 2020."

Tell me how that logically invalidates my position.

How I sound is subjective and you can only argue how it sounds to you. You cannot make an evaluation of how it sounds to other people because you cannot get in the minds of other people. Please familiarize yourself with attribution theory.

On the other hand, if you have some surveys that you can quote, you can make that point. Please respond with your surveys and a link so I can evaluate the methodology.

[Ms. Toad]

15. Spend some time actually administering elections or formally observing (for a party or candidate)

Then get back to me with how your claim that Trump lost an election he won because it just doesn't add up is any different from Trump's claim that won an election that he lost because it just doesn't add up.

I have decades of experience behind the scenes in elections, in a variety of roles (including reviewing the coding on more than one voting machine from more than one vendor). The same claims are being recycled by every party which loses (and have been for more than 2 decades). They are no more valid when we lose than when Trump does.

[NJCher]

16. stop avoiding my question

Answer it.

[Ms. Toad]

17. Not interested in engaging in discussions about whether conspiracy theories are anything

other than conspiracy theories.

I'm sorry that you can't recognize that if it's a conspiracy for Trump, it is also a conspiracy when our side trots it out.

[NJCher]

18. Ok we can complete

This conversation by concluding that you are unable to own up to making an argument that is illogical.

Throwing your resume of presumed knowledge of elections does nothing to help you answer one simple question. It makes you look desperate.

[Ms. Toad]

19. Nope.

It just means that I'm unwilling to spend time debating the merits of a conspiracy theory with Democrats any more than I would want to discuss the merits of same theory with Republicans. And make no mistake - the theories are the same ones which have been circulated for more than 2 decades, with the proponents of the theories flipping when the office flips. I thought Democrats might finally be done with them after Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election based on them, but unfortunately they've crept back in.

People who believe in conspiracy theories don't change their minds based on having the logical invalidity of those arguments explained. So I no longer waste my time, beyond pointing out that it is a conspiracy theory not based on reality.

[NJCher]

20. just so you know

I'm not wasting my time reading this.

[Turbineguy]

8. Trumps base likes it when he lies to them.

[AncientOfDays]

9. Without tRump ...

... J6 would never have happened.

[Evolve Dammit]

10. Get them on the stand when this case ever gets resurrected.

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. ...he DID admit it on television.

If news networks did their jobs, they would have pounced on this admission, and created a weeks long story, and been able to confront his supporters and spokespersons with that. i think Tapper asked him once after, he denied it, and he just let it go. They just glossed over it in order to keep up the other story of his denying it, alive. So he just went back to denying it. Everyone carried on as if they hadn't heard him.

[Cha]

21. Of course.. I've read that before. TY nt