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14 sources checked · Left, Center, and Right included · 3h ago

Different Spin

Jordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan made a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Wednesday, asking prosecutors to see if they can bring charges against former Special Counsel Jack Smith for cagey statements he made about obtaining lawmakers' text messages.

6 Left2 Center6 Right
Same story. Different framing. Left, center, and right outlets are covering the same event. Here’s how each side worded it.

DIFFERENT SPIN

HOW EACH SIDE WORDED IT

Left-leaning'Laughably weak': GOP's criminal referral against Jack Smith dismissed as 'meaningless'Raw StoryMixed
laughablyweakgops
Right-leaningJack Smith Hit With Criminal Referral After GOP Exposes Massive Lie to CongressTruth PressLow
massiveafterexposes
Center baseline · AllSidesHighJordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ

As of July 23, 2026 at 7:34 AM, this is how Optics News reads the wording differences in this story.

What happened Jordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ.
The headline split The left frames it as "'Laughably weak': GOP's criminal referral against Jack Smith dismissed as 'meaningless'". The right frames it as "Jack Smith Hit With Criminal Referral After GOP Exposes Massive Lie to Congress".
Match confidence High confidence. 14 sources checked, Left/Center/Right all represented. Best read as a clear framing signal — not a fact-check.
Same-event confidenceHigh

14 sources across Left, Center, and Right all describe the same event.

Framing confidenceStrong

84/99 — headlines create a clearly different first impression.

WHAT EACH SIDE EMPHASIZED

Left / center-leftRep. Jim Jordan formally asks DOJ to prosecute Jack Smith over congressional testimony

NBC News · Center-left · News report

CenterJordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ

AllSides · Center · News report

Right / center-rightHouse chairman asks DOJ to investigate Jack Smith for lying to Congress

The Washington Times · Center-right · News report

SEE THE HEADLINES

Center-rightMixed
The Washington TimesNews report · Jul 23, 3:46 AM

House chairman asks DOJ to investigate Jack Smith for lying to Congress

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan made a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Wednesday, asking prosecutors to see if they can bring charges against former Special Cou...

Open source
CenterHigh
AllSidesNews report · Jul 23, 7:34 AM

Jordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) late Wednesday recommended criminal charges against former special counsel Jack Smith, pushing to tee up a prosecution of the man that led the crim...

Open source
Center-leftHigh
NBC NewsNews report · Jul 23, 5:20 AM

Rep. Jim Jordan formally asks DOJ to prosecute Jack Smith over congressional testimony

Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, accused Smith of lying in his testimony before the committee in December. Smith’s lawyers denied he made any false statements.

Open source
Center-rightMixed
New York PostNews report · Jul 23, 4:39 AM

Jack Smith hit with criminal referral for allegedly making false statements to Congress about Trump probe: ‘Strong evidence’

“The Committee on the Judiciary writes to refer strong evidence that appears to show Jack Smith, former Special Counsel, knowingly made false statements during his December 17, 2025, deposi...

Open source
Center-leftHigh
ABC NewsNews report · Jul 23, 4:22 AM

House Judiciary issues criminal referral against Jack Smith over alleged perjury

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a criminal referral against former special counsel Jack Smith over congressional testimony late late year.

Open source
RightLow
Truth PressNews report · Jul 23, 4:20 AM

Jack Smith Hit With Criminal Referral After GOP Exposes Massive Lie to Congress

massiveafterexposes

Former Biden special counsel Jack Smith was hit with a criminal referral Wednesday after House Republicans said newly released records exposed what they described as a massive lie to Congre...

Open source
Show all 14 sources
Center-leftHigh
CBS NewsNews report · Jul 23, 3:51 AM

House committee urges DOJ to charge former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith

The GOP chair of the House Judiciary Committee encouraged the DOJ to look into criminally charging Jack Smith, alleging the former special counsel who brought charges against President Trum...

Open source
Center-rightMostly Factual
MediaiteNews report · Jul 23, 3:30 AM

Jim Jordan Issues Criminal Referral to DOJ for Jack Smith

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) issued a criminal referral for former Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly making false statements to Congress. The post Jim Jordan...

Open source
Center-rightMostly Factual
Washington Examiner - NewsNews report · Jul 23, 3:13 AM

Jim Jordan urges criminal charges against Jack Smith over alleged perjury

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Wednesday issued a criminal referral of former special counsel Jack Smith to the Department of Justice over allegations he lied to Co...

Open source
LeftMixed
Raw StoryNews report · Jul 23, 2:49 AM

'Laughably weak': GOP's criminal referral against Jack Smith dismissed as 'meaningless'

laughablyweakgopsagainstdismissed

The House Judiciary Committee is referring former Special Counsel Jack Smith for criminal prosecution, but analysts are dismissing it. On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) alleged that Smit...

Open source
Center-leftHigh
AxiosNews report · Jul 23, 2:47 AM

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan refers Jack Smith to DOJ over alleged false statement

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) referred former Special Counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department on Wednesday, alleging he knowingly made false statements during congressional...

Open source
Center-leftMostly Factual
New York Times PoliticsNews report · Jul 23, 2:08 AM

Republican Lawmaker Urges Charges Against Jack Smith

The criminal referral could provide a catalyst for a prosecution of Mr. Smith, who as special counsel became a top target of the president’s retribution campaign.

Open source
RightVery Low
The Gateway PunditNews report · Jul 23, 2:00 AM

BREAKING: Jim Jordan Criminally Refers Jack Smith to DOJ For Prosecution

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Wednesday criminally referred former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department for prosecution.

Open source
CenterHigh
The HillNews report · Jul 23, 1:48 AM

Jordan accuses Smith of lying to Congress in criminal referral to DOJ

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) late Wednesday recommended criminal charges against former special counsel Jack Smith, pushing to tee up a prosecution of the man that led the crim...

Open source
Details84/99 Wording Gap · High confidence · 14 sources
84/99 Wording GapHigh confidence14 sources · 3 bias bucketsStable · 14 sources · all three buckets · comparable news formatFormats: News report

SOURCE MAP CHANGES

Jul 23, 1:48 AM: The Hill joined the source map.

Jul 23, 2:00 AM: The Gateway Pundit joined the source map.

Jul 23, 2:08 AM: New York Times Politics joined the source map.

Jul 23, 2:47 AM: Axios joined the source map.

Now: Wording Gap is 84/99 and story health is stable · 14 sources · all three buckets · comparable news format.