diff --git a/client/commands/proofs/get.go b/client/commands/proofs/get.go
index 8ad394e3ad..4edbd90b59 100644
--- a/client/commands/proofs/get.go
+++ b/client/commands/proofs/get.go
@@ -52,28 +52,8 @@ func GetProof(node client.Client, prover lc.Prover, key []byte, height int) (pro
 		return proof, err
 	}
 
-	// here is the certifier, root of all knowledge
-	cert, err := commands.GetCertifier()
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-
-	// get and validate a signed header for this proof
-
-	// FIXME: cannot use cert.GetByHeight for now, as it also requires
-	// Validators and will fail on querying tendermint for non-current height.
-	// When this is supported, we should use it instead...
 	ph := int(proof.BlockHeight())
-	client.WaitForHeight(node, ph, nil)
-	commit, err := node.Commit(ph)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-	check := lc.Checkpoint{
-		Header: commit.Header,
-		Commit: commit.Commit,
-	}
-	err = cert.Certify(check)
+	check, err := GetCertifiedCheckpoint(ph)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
@@ -87,6 +67,40 @@ func GetProof(node client.Client, prover lc.Prover, key []byte, height int) (pro
 	return proof, err
 }
 
+// GetCertifiedCheckpoint gets the signed header for a given height
+// and certifies it.  Returns error if unable to get a proven header.
+func GetCertifiedCheckpoint(h int) (empty lc.Checkpoint, err error) {
+	// here is the certifier, root of all knowledge
+	node := commands.GetNode()
+	cert, err := commands.GetCertifier()
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	// get and validate a signed header for this proof
+
+	// FIXME: cannot use cert.GetByHeight for now, as it also requires
+	// Validators and will fail on querying tendermint for non-current height.
+	// When this is supported, we should use it instead...
+	client.WaitForHeight(node, h, nil)
+	commit, err := node.Commit(h)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	check := lc.Checkpoint{
+		Header: commit.Header,
+		Commit: commit.Commit,
+	}
+	// double check we got the same height
+	if check.Height() != h {
+		return empty, lc.ErrHeightMismatch(h, check.Height())
+	}
+
+	// and now verify it matches our validators
+	err = cert.Certify(check)
+	return check, nil
+}
+
 // ParseHexKey parses the key flag as hex and converts to bytes or returns error
 // argname is used to customize the error message
 func ParseHexKey(args []string, argname string) ([]byte, error) {
diff --git a/client/commands/proofs/tx.go b/client/commands/proofs/tx.go
index cffc4dfc11..930c22ddc5 100644
--- a/client/commands/proofs/tx.go
+++ b/client/commands/proofs/tx.go
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ package proofs
 
 import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"github.com/spf13/viper"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/light-client/proofs"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/basecoin/client/commands"
 )
@@ -24,9 +26,25 @@ data to other peers as needed.
 	RunE: commands.RequireInit(txQueryCmd),
 }
 
+// type ResultTx struct {
+//   Height   int           `json:"height"`
+//   Index    int           `json:"index"`
+//   TxResult abci.Result   `json:"tx_result"`
+//   Tx       types.Tx      `json:"tx"`
+//   Proof    types.TxProof `json:"proof,omitempty"`
+// }
+
+// type TxProof struct {
+//   Index, Total int
+//   RootHash     data.Bytes
+//   Data         Tx
+//   Proof        merkle.SimpleProof
+// }
+
 func txQueryCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	// parse cli
-	height := GetHeight()
+	// TODO: when querying historical heights is allowed... pass it
+	// height := GetHeight()
 	bkey, err := ParseHexKey(args, "txhash")
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -34,19 +52,36 @@ func txQueryCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 	// get the proof -> this will be used by all prover commands
 	node := commands.GetNode()
-	prover := proofs.NewTxProver(node)
-	proof, err := GetProof(node, prover, bkey, height)
+	prove := viper.GetBool(commands.FlagTrustNode)
+	res, err := node.Tx(bkey, prove)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if !prove {
+		return showTx(res.Height, res.Tx)
+	}
+
+	check, err := GetCertifiedCheckpoint(res.Height)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	err = res.Proof.Validate(check.Header.DataHash)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	return showTx(res.Height, res.Proof.Data)
+}
+
+func showTx(h int, tx types.Tx) error {
 	// auto-determine which tx it was, over all registered tx types
-	info, err := TxPresenters.BruteForce(proof.Data())
+	info, err := TxPresenters.BruteForce(tx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	// we can reuse this output for other commands for text/json
 	// unless they do something special like store a file to disk
-	return OutputProof(info, proof.BlockHeight())
+	return OutputProof(info, uint64(h))
 }