WASHINGTON — Prosecutors under former special counsel Jack Smith apparently disclosed classified material after bringing charges against President Trump over identical violations, according to internal government records released Wednesday.
Messages between members of the special counsel’s office from July 2023 show that investigators seemed to provide “access to classified materials” without confirming those who reviewed the information did so on a “need to know” basis.
Other communications from Oct. 15 and 16 of that same year revealed that “a classified letter” was left out, while on April 19, 2024, a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) was left open because “no one closed it the day before.”
“That’s a violation and an incident so I need to know the details,” said Carli Rodriguez-Feo, a Department of Justice veteran who has worked in its Litigation Security Group.
An assistant to Smith, Stephanie Van Buskirk, appears to have been responsible for the security lapse.
It’s unclear whether the special counsel’s office members involved in the exchanges were working on Smith’s case against Trump involving the alleged retention of classified documents at the 45th president’s Mar-a-Lago estate or his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Trump was indicted twice by Smith in 2023 — once in June for the documents case, and then again in August for the election case. Both cases were dismissed before he returned to the White House in January 2025.
A South Florida federal judge dismissed the classified documents case because Smith had been appointed without congressional approval. Smith asked for the dismissal of the election case after Trump won the 2024 election over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released the communications in a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, claiming they suggested a “double standard” by the Biden administration.
“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,” Grassley said in a statement. “According to these messages, Biden DOJ personnel may have committed the very offense for which Jack Smith was prosecuting President Trump.”
The Iowa Republican’s letter cited former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified material — and the DOJ’s decision under former President Barack Obama not to prosecute her for it.
The missive also noted former President Joe Biden’s willful hoarding of classified material at his Delaware residence and post-vice presidency DC office, which ex-special counsel Robert Hur didn’t charge in part because he said a jury would likely view Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
“These records expose yet another double standard of justice,” added Grassley. “While Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden escaped accountability for mishandling highly classified information, Jack Smith and the Biden DOJ set out to paint President Trump as a felon and ruin him politically.”
“These and other records I’ve made public show the Biden Justice Department was unquestionably careless, not to mention highly hypocritical,” he said.
Grassley also requested details from Blanche about the individuals who communicated about the incidents, whether there was “any investigation” or anyone “held accountable,” or if Smith’s team informed a federal court about the security violation.
Reps for the DOJ and Smith’s attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
