Fact Check: Was Jack Smith arrested at airport while trying to flee to Cayman Islands?

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: A viral claim circulating on social media platforms claimed that former Special Counsel for the Department of Justice Jack Smith was arrested at the airport for his role in the alleged 2020 election rigging. The claim has sparked questions and speculation from online users who are calling for an investigation into the viral claim.

Claim: Jack Smith arrested while trying to flee the country

A viral post on X has claimed that Smith was arrested at Fort Lauderdale airport and led to the Miami-Dade courthouse in handcuffs while trying to flee to the Cayman Islands.

According to the post, Smith was under strict federal orders to remain in Illinois while the Justice Department investigates his role in the 2020 election rigging, but he decided to ignore the judge and flee the country.

It further states that he was arraigned in Miami-Dade and immediately turned over to the Marshals, who will escort him straight back to Illinois under guard. 

The post ends by accusing Smith of weaponizing the justice system against President Donald Trump. 

The post has garnered almost a hundred thousand likes as of this writing, with the comments indicating that many believe the claim to be true.

Fact Check: No credible evidence to support the claim

The claim, however, is false and baseless, as there are no reports of the former DOJ Special Counsel being arrested while trying to flee to the Cayman Islands.

The claim that he was ordered to remain in Illinois while the DOJ investigates his role in the election rigging is also baseless.

If the claim were true, it would have been widely covered by prominent news media outlets, but a search on Google for the claim returned no relevant results.

Additionally, the account that posted the claim, though not explicitly a parody account, has posted several such fake and exaggerated claims for the sake of engagement.

Donald Trump targets Jack Smith over DOJ records

Last month, Trump attacked Smith by declaring him guilty while pointing to newly released Justice Department records that Republicans said contradict Smith's previous congressional testimony about reviewing lawmakers' text messages. 

Trump’s attack renewed GOP accusations that Smith's investigation crossed constitutional lines. Trump tied the records to his longstanding claims that the DOJ had been "weaponized" against him and his allies. 

The newly released records showed Smith's office accessed communications between Trump White House personnel and 44 members of Congress from both parties.

Those whose messages were viewed included DOJ Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Sen Susan Collins, Sen Tom Cotton, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Rep Elise Stefanik, Sen Cory Booker, former Rep Karen Bass, Rep Adam Smith, and former Rep Lee Zeldin.