Hawley tells Hannity Jack Smith "should be charged" and "lied to Congress"

Josh HawleyU.S. senator from Missouri and Senate Judiciary Committee member, in an interview on Fox News's Hannity

Condemned

Sen. Josh Hawley tells Sean Hannity that Jack Smith should be charged, on Fox News's "Hannity," Sept. 29, 2026.

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Video: Fox News (posted on X by @Acyn). Excerpt used for news reporting and commentary

Watch the full original video (opens in a new tab) (relevant passage: 0:00 to 0:34 clip of Sen. Josh Hawley answering Sean Hannity on Fox News, from "Can he be charged? Will he be charged?" to "trying to get his hands on everything related to Donald Trump.")

Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News's Sean Hannity that Jack Smith should be charged and lied to Congress, saying a House deposition had asked Smith whether he obtained members' text messages and he said no.

“He should be charged. He lied to Congress. He lied to the House.”

Original post

Read the original post (opens in a new tab)Hawley on Hannity: "He should be charged. He lied to Congress."0:00 to 0:34 clip of Sen. Josh Hawley answering Sean Hannity on Fox News, from "Can he be charged? Will he be charged?" to "trying to get his hands on everything related to Donald Trump."

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The Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., photographed from across a street on a clear day.
Credit: Architect of the Capitol

Where this statement fits

Were members of Congress's phone records and text messages properly obtained in the Arctic Frost and Jack Smith investigations?

On September 29, 2026, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled "Oversight of Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans and Related Matters," with former special counsel Jack Smith as its only witness. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and other Republicans said that Smith's team, in the FBI's Arctic Frost investigation and its own election case, obtained members of Congress's phone toll records and text messages, used nondisclosure orders to keep members from learning of it, and breached the Speech or Debate Clause. Smith said the toll records were non-content records obtained after he directed his staff to consult the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, and that the nondisclosure orders were consistent with the law and Justice Department policy at the time. Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) called the attacks on Smith "petty, personal, and political." The sides and the documents give different counts of the members affected. The dispute is whether the collection of members' phone records and messages was proper.

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Source and context

Original post

Hawley on Hannity: "He should be charged. He lied to Congress." (opens in a new tab)0:00 to 0:34 clip of Sen. Josh Hawley answering Sean Hannity on Fox News, from "Can he be charged? Will he be charged?" to "trying to get his hands on everything related to Donald Trump."

About this source

Clip posted by aggregator Acyn at 9:46 PM ET on September 29, 2026, of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) answering Fox News host Sean Hannity on the evening of Jack Smith's Senate Judiciary hearing. The Fox News chyron identifies Hawley and the program, Hannity. Hannity's question asks whether Smith can and will be charged. Hawley says Smith should be charged and that Smith lied to Congress, citing a House deposition and the hearing testimony. DI transcribed the clip from its audio.

Watch the clip from this source at the top of the page.

Before the quotation

Hannity asked, "Can he be charged? Will he be charged?" after Smith's Senate Judiciary hearing. Hawley answered, "He should be charged, Sean. There's no doubt about it."

After the quotation

Hawley said the House had Smith under oath in a deposition a few months earlier and asked him "point blank" whether he obtained the text messages of members of Congress, that Smith said no, and that he read the answer back to Smith at the hearing. He said Smith had in fact obtained 44 members' text messages two years earlier while trying to get everything related to Donald Trump.

How this statement is classified

Condemned

The label describes this statement's response within the context above.

Why this label?

Relative to how members' phone records and texts were obtained, Hawley says Smith should be charged and lied to Congress about obtaining members' text messages. That rejects the conduct as improper and accuses Smith of dishonesty about it, so we labeled it Condemned.

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Hawley tells Hannity Jack Smith "should be charged" and "lied to Congress"
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The Dispute Index. "Hawley tells Hannity Jack Smith "should be charged" and "lied to Congress"". First published: 2026-09-30. Last updated: 2026-09-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/3549-sen-josh-hawley-told-fox-news-s-sean