‘Most Culpable’: Jack Smith Names Alleged Co-Conspirators as Panic Spreads in Republican Circles

Washington, D.C. – In a closed-door deposition that has sent shockwaves through the political establishment, former Special Counsel Jack Smith has revealed new details about the six alleged co-conspirators who worked alongside President Donald Trump in the failed effort to overturn the 2020 election. The 255-page transcript, released Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee, has ignited panic in Republican circles as the names of Trump’s closest allies—individuals he trusted and relied upon—are thrust back into the national spotlight .

While the co-conspirators were originally described in Smith’s August 2023 indictment, the newly released deposition provides the most comprehensive account yet of how Smith’s team viewed their roles and why charges against them were never finalized. Smith told lawmakers that he was “in the process of making that determination” about whether to charge the six individuals when Donald Trump’s reelection victory forced the closure of his office, effectively ending the prosecution .

Who Are the Alleged Co-Conspirators?

Based on the detailed descriptions in the indictment and subsequent reporting, the six individuals are widely understood to be:

• Rudy Giuliani (Co-Conspirator 1): The former New York City mayor and Trump’s personal attorney, described in the indictment as “an attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that the defendant’s 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not.” Giuliani played a prominent public role in pushing theories of widespread election fraud and spoke at the Ellipse rally on Jan. 6 before the Capitol attack .

• John Eastman (Co-Conspirator 2): The former Chapman University law professor who devised the legal strategy suggesting then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject electoral votes from certain states. Smith’s indictment described him as an “attorney who devised and attempted to implement a strategy to leverage the Vice President’s ceremonial role” to obstruct certification .

• Sidney Powell (Co-Conspirator 3): A lawyer who promoted baseless election fraud claims and filed unsuccessful lawsuits seeking to overturn results. Smith noted that Trump privately told others her claims “sounded crazy” but still “embraced and publicly amplified” them .

• Jeffrey Clark (Co-Conspirator 4): A former high-ranking Justice Department official who attempted to use the department to open sham election fraud investigations. The indictment describes him as someone who “attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election fraud investigations” .

• Kenneth Chesebro (Co-Conspirator 5): An attorney who helped devise the plan to submit fake slates of electors from key states to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election results .

• Co-Conspirator 6: A political consultant who helped implement the fake electors scheme by identifying attorneys who could carry out the plan .

‘The Attack Does Not Happen Without Him’

In his deposition, Smith delivered a stark assessment of Trump’s centrality to the conspiracy, repeatedly describing the president as “the most culpable and most responsible person” in what he called a criminal effort to subvert American democracy .

“The evidence here made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy,” Smith told lawmakers. “These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit” .

Smith also disclosed that some of the six co-conspirators had cooperated with investigators. “Some of the co-conspirators met with us in proffers and did interviews with us,” Smith revealed, though he did not specify which individuals provided information .

A Case Built on Republican Witnesses

Perhaps most striking was Smith’s assertion that his case was constructed not from political opponents but from Trump’s own allies—Republicans who ultimately put their allegiance to the country above party loyalty.

“Our case was built on, frankly, Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before the party,” Smith said. “We had numerous witnesses who would say, ‘I voted for President Trump. I campaigned for President Trump. I wanted him to win'” .

Among the potential witnesses Smith named were Rusty Bowers, the former Republican Speaker of the Arizona House, and the prior Speaker of the Michigan House—both of whom testified about pressure campaigns to submit false elector certificates .

Why No Charges?

Republican lawmakers pressed Smith on why only Trump was charged despite the identification of six co-conspirators. Smith explained that the decision was based on standard prosecutorial principles emphasizing “the degree of someone’s culpability”—and that Trump was, in his estimation, the individual most responsible .

He also noted that charging determinations for the co-conspirators remained under active consideration when his investigation was terminated. “My staff determined that we did have evidence to charge people at a certain point in time. I had not made final determinations about that at the time that President Trump won reelection, meaning that our office was going to be closed down” .

Panic in Republican Circles

The release of Smith’s deposition has sparked fresh anxiety among Republicans, particularly those whose names have been linked to the co-conspirators. John Eastman continues to face possible disbarment in California, while Rudy Giuliani has already been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C. . Jeffrey Clark is fighting ethics charges from the D.C. Bar .

For those now serving in the Trump administration, the renewed scrutiny is particularly acute. A recent report by House Judiciary Committee Democrats noted that Trump has “gone so far as to install insurrectionists and his co-conspirators at the highest ranks of his Administration, including the Department of Justice” .

Smith’s Defense

Throughout the deposition, Smith vigorously rejected accusations that his investigation was politically motivated. “I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the presidential election,” Smith said. “I would never take orders from a political leader to hamper another person in an election. That’s not who I am” .

He described the case as unprecedented but necessary. “There is no historical analog for what President Trump did in this case,” Smith said. “He was free to say that he thought he won the election. He was even free to say falsely that he won the election. But what he was not free to do was violate federal law” .

As the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack approaches, the release of Smith’s testimony ensures that questions about accountability—for the president and the allies who allegedly aided him—will remain at the center of American political debate . Whether the co-conspirators will ever face charges remains uncertain. But their names, and their alleged roles in what Smith called an attempt to “overthrow the government,” are now permanently etched into the historical record .