Former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) detailed his years-long legal battle with former Justice Department official Jack Smith during an interview on Breitbart News Saturday in which he accused Smith of prosecutorial misconduct and called for reforms that would subject prosecutors pursuing public figures and politicians to greater independent oversight.
Renzi (pictured above), who represented Arizona’s First Congressional District from 2003 to 2009, told Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle that his prosecution began after he had repeatedly won a district that he described as “almost 60% Democrat” while performing strongly in the Navajo Nation. Renzi accused prosecutors of bringing “false charges” against him and said investigators “wiretapped my attorney 41 times,” withheld evidence favorable to his defense, and engaged in witness tampering.
“They then did not drop any charges,” Renzi said. “Instead, they engaged in witness tampering, where they used a secret DOJ slush fund to enhance and offer money to this witness in exchange for him to change his testimony.” Renzi further alleged that an FBI agent was “caught destroying exculpatory evidence” and said his legal team eventually developed a “190-page inspector general complaint.”
Renzi said the central feature of Smith’s approach was his use of the legal process itself against a defendant. “What’s proven about Jack Smith is that he uses the process,” Renzi said. “He’ll fabricate charges. He’ll invent the law, and then he uses the process to destroy you politically.”
Former special counsel Jack Smith prepares to testify during a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026. The committee is holding the hearing to examine Smith’s probe into Donald Trump. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Renzi compared his experience with Smith’s later prosecution of President Donald Trump, arguing that indictments were used at politically consequential moments. “The way he rushed his indictments against the president–all politically timed. That’s what he did in my case,” Renzi said.
Renzi said his case involved an international mining company seeking to mine copper near the San Carlos Apache Reservation, where he said he was “backing and protecting the San Carlos.” According to Renzi, Democrat lobbyists working for the company cooperated with Smith to “invent charges” accusing him of strong-arming the company as a member of Congress.
“They invented those charges,” Renzi said, adding that prosecutors repeatedly offered plea agreements that he rejected. Renzi said he was initially offered four years in prison, then three years, and finally “10 months in prison and one felony charge.”
“I ended up fasting and praying,” Renzi said. “I had nine boys and five girls at the time, so I had a bunch of kids. And I said no to Jack Smith’s deal, and they took me to trial.” Renzi said he was eventually indicted on 49 felony counts after refusing to plead guilty and fought the prosecution for “seven and a half years” at a cost of millions of dollars.
Renzi also recounted learning of his indictment while delivering the eulogy at his father’s funeral at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Annandale, Virginia. His father, he said, “served in the Army as a two-star general for 33 years,” saying prosecutors leaked news of the indictment while the family was mourning.
“Then he leaks to the reporters and the media, who are then swarming in the parking lot outside the Catholic Church,” Renzi said. “The family cars were trying to leave with my father’s casket. Then he leaks word that I’m under indictment for 20 felonies in Arizona.”
Renzi characterized the episode as part of what he called a “bludgeoned axe tactic” intended to pressure defendants into pleading guilty. “It’s all calculated ahead of time to try and get the guilty plea eventually out of you,” he said.
Renzi said he continued to reject plea offers despite the mounting charges. “I refuse to plead guilty. I don’t accept his plea deal. He then reindicts me on 30 felonies,” he said, adding that when prosecutors later offered “10 months in prison, one felony,” he again refused.
Renzi also accused Smith’s team of targeting attorneys and financially isolating defendants. “The first thing he tries to do is make you defenseless,” Renzi said. He alleged that prosecutors wiretapped his attorneys, pressured lawyers, and indicted one of his attorneys, who Renzi said “was found innocent.”
“He debanked me twice,” Renzi said, including once “at Christmas when I was trying to buy presents for my 12 kids.” He also said his company was debanked, which he argued made it harder to “fund my legal defense.”
Renzi further accused Smith of providing deceptive answers during congressional questioning, citing exchanges involving Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Jim Jordan. Renzi said Smith was asked whether he had coordinated with former CIA Director John Brennan and responded, “No, I’ve never met Brennan.” But Renzi said members of Smith’s special counsel team had met with Brennan.
Renzi also pointed to questioning involving congressional records, saying Smith was asked whether additional data had been collected on members of Congress and answered no. Renzi asserted that later evidence showed “he collected data for the National Archives,” and said Jordan subsequently made “a criminal referral to the Department of Justice to look into lying to Congress.”
Renzi ultimately served prison time after his 2013 conviction, and received a presidential pardon from Trump on January 20, 2021. Discussing what he believes should change to prevent prosecutorial misconduct, Renzi said, “It’s sovereign immunity, Matt.”
“We’ve got to stop this idea that the lords of the palace, that these prosecutors go out in Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, all over the country, whether Republicans or Democrats, and they have complete sovereign immunity, as if they’re kings and lords of their own palace,” Renzi said. “It’s got to be changed.”
Renzi argued that prosecutorial immunity should be narrowed and proposed establishing what he called a “citizens’ accountability council” to examine allegations of misconduct. “The United States Congress has proven its inability to hold any of these prosecutors accountable,” he said.
“We’ve got to have teams of American patriots, lawyers, judges, good from both parties, independents, who serve on a citizens accountability council and delve deeply into individual cases of misconduct,” Renzi said. Without such reforms, he argued, the country would struggle to “get back the pillar of justice.”
Renzi additionally called for changes involving the Justice Department inspector general, questioning the independence of an oversight structure housed within the department it is responsible for examining. “How about the office of Inspector General being located in Main Justice on Ninth Street, Matt?” Renzi said. “Who would ever think that you would put the fox guarding the henhouse?”
Boyle noted during the interview that concerns about prosecutorial abuse have arisen under administrations of both political parties, telling Renzi that recent history is “littered with examples like this from both parties.” Boyle also raised the possibility of Democrats gaining control of Congress in the midterm elections and asked Renzi what protections could prevent politically motivated investigations in the future.
Renzi responded by recalling an effort following the prosecution of former Sen. Ted Stevens to establish additional review requirements when prosecutors target public officials. “We tried to put together a sunlight law where, if you’re going after a public figure, Republican or Democrat, the evidence has got to be reviewed by a taint team,” Renzi said. “It’s got to be reviewed by an independent third party.”
“We cannot have a government that goes after leadership and acts as a third world nation carrying out retribution and revenge on political leaders in the country,” Renzi said. He argued that additional protections are necessary so “young, good, smart men and women” will continue seeking public office.
“There’s got to be another layer now put in place where Americans, independent thinkers, men and women of truth” can review the evidence before politically prominent figures are prosecuted, Renzi said. “If you’re going to go after a politician, there’s got to be an independent” review.
Renzi argued that such a process should not leave the decision entirely to prosecutors and a grand jury. “It cannot be just indicting, a grand jury like a ham sandwich and then running it to the press,” he said, contending that intense publicity can influence not only potential jurors but also the broader judicial process.
Renzi pointed to the handling of Smith’s classified-documents prosecution of Trump in Florida as an example of the kind of judicial independence he believes is necessary. He praised the judge in that case for finding Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, calling the ruling “great, great courage.”
“That kind of courage and independence is what we need on these teams that will look at the evidence and decide whether it’s true or not,” Renzi said, reiterating the argument that independent review should apply when prosecutors pursue politically prominent defendants.
Renzi’s book, Apache Leap: Lawfare, can be purchased here.
Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
