Former special counsel Jack Smith made a not-so-subtle statement with his choice of attire at a star-studded festival over the weekend.
Smith, who investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the subsequent Jan. 6 insurrection attempt, was spotted at the “Power to the People” music festival in Maryland.
Smith wore a “No Kings” protest shirt from Bruce Springsteen’s merch line from his anti-Trump “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour. Videos posted to social media also show Smith, beer in hand, chatting with people who came up to him to commend him for his work.
Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello organized the festival. It aimed to celebrate “peace, justice, solidarity, music and community action,” according to its mission statement. The festival also said it hoped to promote voter turnout ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Smith also appeared to get a shoutout at the festival. Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters dedicated their performance of “My Hero” to “my new friend Jack.”
While he did not specify Jack by his last name, he was also wearing an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt, in what seemed to be a wink to Sen. Eric Schmitt’s botched line of questioning during a congressional hearing with Smith last week.
During the embarrassing moment last week, Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, tried to catch Smith in a “gotcha” as he accused Smith of living large in Atlanta with Fulton County DA Fani Willis, who was prosecuting Trump at the time.
But all of his evidence hinged upon text messages about Smith attending what turned out to be a women’s college basketball game in Maryland to see the Iowa Hawkeyes, not the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
Schmitt had completely gotten the team, city, and even level of sport wrong in his humiliating line of questioning.
Until the festival, Smith has largely refrained from participating in partisan events, or even attending them.
Springsteen opened the festival with his song “Streets of Minneapolis,” which was written in response to the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration agents.
“The power and solidarity of the people of Minneapolis, of Minnesota, is an inspiration to the entire country,” he told the sold-out crowd. “Their strength and their commitment told us that this is still America, and this will not stand. They gave us hope. They showed us courage.”
