Sen. Marsha Blackburn sued former special counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department in Tennessee federal court Wednesday, charging that the prosecutor wrongfully obtained her call logs during his investigation into President Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election outcome.
Blackburn’s lawsuit, filed in Nashville, accuses Smith of “gross abuse of power and … disregard for the Constitution’s Separation of Powers, the Speech or Debate Clause, the First Amendment right of association, [and] the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures” by subpoenaing the phone records of the Tennessee Republican and eight of her Senate colleagues, then securing a court order preventing Blackburn’s carrier, Verizon, from alerting her to the request.
Blackburn, who is running for Tennessee governor, is seeking to have Smith’s November 2022 appointment by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland formally declared illegal, in addition to the effort to obtain her phone records. She also wants any of her material still in Smith or the DOJ’s possession to be destroyed or returned to her.
Smith’s receipt of phone records as part of the so-called “Arctic Frost” investigation was revealed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in October of last year. In addition to Blackburn, Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) had their addresses, inbound/outbound call and text records, and payment information handed over to Smith’s team.
While Verizon complied with the special prosecutor’s grand jury subpoena, a similar request from Smith’s office to AT&T was denied.
“Verizon willfully handed over my call logs to the Biden FBI without hesitation, empowering Jack Smith’s witch hunt targeting Republicans for political gain,” Blackburn told The Post in a statement at the time.
“It turns out that activist [DC federal] Judge [James] Boasberg also ordered Verizon not to inform me of the subpoena, falsely claiming I might destroy so-called evidence,” Blackburn said. “There was no criminal predicate, no justification, and no excuse for Verizon aiding Jack Smith’s spying operation, especially when AT&T refused to comply under the same circumstances.”
Blackburn’s lawsuit was filed one day after Smith appeared before the Judiciary Committee, on which Blackburn sits, to defend his investigation of the 45th and 47th president.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation,” Smith told lawmakers. “If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.”
Trump was charged with four counts related to his attempt to remain in power following the 2020 election, but the case was shelved after the Republican won the 2024 election over Democrat Kamala Harris.
Separately Wednesday, Hagerty announced he had filed a bar complaint against Smith in Tennessee, where he worked as a federal prosecutor and corporate attorney prior to his appointment by Garland.
“He’s a blatantly partisan actor and his prosecutorial misconduct damaged our constitutional order,” Hagerty wrote of Smith on X. “He should never be able to practice law again.”
