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

Read the original at The Bulwark ↗
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 locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-29, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

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 2026-10-04, grounded in this article and the 34 other(s) covering the same event.

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
5
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
0%
0 of 5 hedged
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Correction & hedging signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
35
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Analyzed 2026-09-29 · how these are computed

Story

📰 Jack Smith Testifies Before Senate
Politics · 35 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

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 · 100%
CBS News · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 9% hedged 4 of 43 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day, September 29, 2026.”
Former special counsel Jack Smith to testify before Senate on Trump investigations same event · 100%
ABC News (US) · 0.85 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 3 of 28 📰 publisher trust 59
“Both articles refer to Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026.”
Ex-Trump prosecutor Smith will tell senators he won't 'be silenced' by threats of prosecution same event · 100%
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 9% hedged 2 of 22 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day, defending his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and standing against threats of prosecution.”
WATCH LIVE: Jack Smith testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee same event · 100%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's live testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day, covering his defense of his decision to prosecute Donald Trump.”
Jack Smith testifies at Senate hearing, defending decision to charge Trump same event · 100%
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 no claims extracted 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same date, where he defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump.”
Jack Smith dodges questions about spying on Republican lawmakers same event · 100%
Washington Examiner
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 6 of 54 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day, discussing his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and defending his investigative actions.”
‘You make me want to throw up’: Republicans attack ex-special counsel Jack Smith at Senate hearing same event · 100%
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly right 🔴 12% hedged 3 of 24 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day, where he defended his decision to prosecute Donald Trump and faced attacks from Republicans.”
September 29, 2026 same event · 100%
Letters from an American
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 8% hedged 7 of 86
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026.”
Jack Smith fires back at Trump as explosive Senate hearing begins same event · 95%
Daily Mail · 0.89 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 7% hedged 1 of 14 📰 publisher trust 65
“Both articles describe Jack Smith defending his actions during a Senate hearing on September 29, 2026.”
Jack Smith faces Senate grilling as Republicans press for criminal charges against him same event · 95%
Washington Examiner · 0.87 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 35 📰 publisher trust 72
“Both articles describe Jack Smith's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the same day, September 29, 2026.”

Publisher

The Bulwark · 302 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
9 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 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
🔮 Trump’s AI Push Could Boost His Own Investments (w/ Gov. Wes Moore)
2026-09-24 · assertive framing · Trump’s AI Push Could Boost His Own Investments (w/ Gov. Wes Moore)
🔮 Trump’s thinking here, as with his East Wing ballroom, is that the courts will be more deferential in letting him build his arch if he can claim it’s needed for a national security reason.
2026-09-21 · assertive framing · Trump’s AI Hubris Is a Blue Opportunity
🔮 It’s an unambiguously pro-Ukraine piece of legislation that will punish Russia hard for its war of aggression.
2026-09-17 · assertive framing · Congress to Trump: MORE TARIFFS, PLEASE!
🔮 Catherine Rampell and Andrew Egger take on the pure Trumpian madness engulfing the Kennedy Center, which could close as early as Tuesday after Trump’s takeover drove away donors, performers, and audiences.
2026-09-15 · speculative framing · Kennedy Center’s Bizarre Documents Are Pure Trumpian Madness
🔮 Later, he repeated the point: “Again, I wouldn’t call it a war.
2026-09-04 · assertive framing · Iran War? What Iran War?
🔮 You might want to start telling them, Yeah, I’m with him—but only on the good stuff, the stuff you guys like.
2026-09-03 · assertive framing · When You Control the Mail, You Control the Nation
Also by Andrew Egger
Trump’s AI Push Could Boost His Own Investments (w/ Gov. Wes Moore)
2026-09-24 · The Bulwark
LIVE REACTION: Trump Delivers Speech To UN Amid War In Iran
2026-09-22 · The Bulwark
Trump’s AI Hubris Is a Blue Opportunity
2026-09-21 · The Bulwark
BREAKING: Trump Threatens Kennedy Center Demolition If His Name Isn’t On It
2026-09-17 · The Bulwark
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Andrew Egger →

Topics

Bulwark Democrat Republican Republicans the Senate Judiciary Committee

Subjects

Andrew Egger PERSON · 1× Bill Kristol PERSON · 1× Bulwark GPE · 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
A subscription gets you: - Unlimited access to articles and newsletters including The Triad by JVL and Receipts by Catherine Rampell. - Ad-free editions of our shows (with transcripts) and member-only shows like The Secret Podcast. - Plus community chats and commenting features. asserted
subscription → get → Podcast
Your support helps keep our work sustainable and available to those who cannot afford a membership. asserted
who → help → membership
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