Former Special Counsel Jack Smith was summoned on Wednesday to appear before a Republican-led House committee looking into his prosecution of US President Donald Trump.
Representative Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a subpoena to Smith ordering him to testify on December 17.
Smith had requested that his testimony be delivered in public, but the committee has opted instead to have him deposed behind closed doors.
Trump was accused by Smith of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House and plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Neither case came to trial and Smith -- in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president -- dropped them both after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, called Smith a "thug" and an "evil man" and said he would like to see him testify publicly.
"I'd rather see him testify publicly, because there's no way he can answer the questions," he said.
Since taking office for the second time, Trump has urged the Justice Department to bring cases against Smith and a number of other perceived political opponents.
Cases brought against Trump foes James Comey, a former FBI director, and New York Attorney General Letitia James collapsed last month after a judge ruled that the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.
- 'Full unvarnished truth' -
Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, criticized the decision by the Republicans on the oversight panel not to allow Smith to testify publicly.
"What are our colleagues so afraid of, that they won't let the American people hear directly from the Special Counsel?" Raskin said in a statement.
"The American people deserve to hear the full unvarnished truth about Special Counsel Smith's years-long effort to investigate and prosecute the crimes committed by Donald Trump and his co-conspirators," he said.
"Judiciary Committee Republicans want to force the Special Counsel into the shadows of a backroom interrogation and subject him to the tiresome and loathsome partisan tactics of leak-and-distort, when the American public is demanding transparency and a public hearing," Raskin added.
Peter Koski, Smith's lawyer, also expressed disappointment that his client would not be allowed to testify publicly.
"Nearly six weeks ago Jack offered to voluntarily appear before the House Judiciary committee in an open hearing to answer any questions lawmakers have about his investigation into President Trump's alleged efforts to unlawfully overturn the election results and retention of classified documents," Koski said in a statement to US media.
"We are disappointed that offer was rejected, and that the American people will be denied the opportunity to hear directly from Jack on these topics," Koski added.
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