Speaker Mike Johnson floated the possibility of defunding the Office of the Special Counsel amid Jack Smith's probe. (Getty Images)
That trial is unrelated to Smith's probes into Trump in connection with the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents, but Johnson lambasted those investigations as well in comments to reporters after his court attendance.
He pledged on Tuesday, "I'm working with Chairman [Jim] Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman [James] Comer of our Oversight Committee on measures to rein in the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith."
Asked by Fox News Digital on Wednesday what that looked like, Johnson said, "There's a lot of different ideas being discussed now on what that would look like. Do you defund the entire Special Counsel's Office?"
MICHAEL COHEN'S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY
Speaker Mike Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy and Rep. Cory Mills stand behind former President Trump in the Manhattan courthouse. (Getty Images)
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"That’s not something you wave a wand and just eliminate the special counsel as a provision," Johnson told the outlet. "There is a necessity for a function like that, because sometimes the Department of Justice – which is an executive branch agency – can’t necessarily, without a conflict of interest, investigate or prosecute the president who’s their boss, or the president’s family."
When reached for comment on the different statements, Johnson's office referred Fox News Digital back to the speaker's comments in the press conference and to a recent X post when he pledged to "rein in" Smith.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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