Congressional Republicans are pressing Verizon and AT&T to fork over data on how they helped the FBI obtain phone records of multiple sitting GOP lawmakers.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) fired off a missive to two telecommunications giants on Tuesday, demanding they furnish communications related to former special counsel Jack Smith and his former team.
“Recently released internal DOJ documents indicate that former Special Counsel Jack Smith compelled the production of phone records belonging to several Republican Members of Congress and simultaneously sought a gag order,” Jordan wrote in the letters.
“It is concerning that the Biden-Harris DOJ abused its federal law enforcement authority to effectuate a politically motivated prosecution against President Trump, in such a clandestine and partisan manner, by spying on the communications of sitting Members of Congress.”
Last month, revelations emerged that the FBI’s “Arctic Frost” probe of efforts to thwart the 2020 election secretly obtained records of multiple sitting GOP senators and one Republican congressman.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) disclosed a Sept. 27, 2023, document revealing that the bureau got approval to run a cellular analysis on the GOP lawmakers.
Arctic Frost began in April 2022 and Smith took over the probe later that year. Jordan has summoned Smith for testimony to explain the spying on GOP lawmakers and address other concerns with the probe.
Last week, Grassley revealed that 10 sitting GOP senators, including Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), had been targeted by the Arctic Frost probe. Grassley also released 197 subpoenas from Smith’s team targeting close to 400 Republican-leaning groups and operatives.
In May of 2023, Smith slapped subpoenas against Verizon and AT&T. Verizon ultimately provided Smith’s team with telephone toll records of eight sitting Republican senators.
The toll records showed who the lawmakers called, but did not include the content of those conversations.
AT&T also confirmed that it had been subpoenaed for the phone records of two GOP lawmakers, but pushed back on those demands and Smith’s team didn’t follow up, resulting in the telecommunications company not providing that data.
Federal Judge James Boasberg had granted a gag order to block AT&T and Verizon from disclosing the subpoena to the GOP lawmakers whose phone records were targeted.
“These findings raise serious concerns about potential statutory and constitutional violations, including violations of the Speech or Debate Clause, and we therefore request documents and information to aid in our oversight,” Jordan continued in his missives to the heads of AT&T and Verizon.
FBI Director Kash Patel has since fired several agents who worked on the Arctic Frost probe.
On Tuesday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed that Smith’s team had confiscated the phone Trump used during his first term and combed through his call logs.
“During the Arctic Frost Investigation, we found that Special Counsel [Jack Smith] seized President Trump’s government-issued phone,” Bondi revealed on X.
“In addition, Special Counsel subpoenaed all of President Trump’s PERSONAL phone records. We can never again allow this kind of government weaponization in America.”
