Former special counsel Jack Smith is now under the microscope for some seriously questionable antics tied to his pursuit of former President Donald Trump, the New York Post reports.
The crux of this brewing storm is Smith’s alleged overreach in obtaining phone records of congressional Republicans, an action that has landed him in hot water with the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility and two state bar associations for potential disbarment.
This saga kicked off with an FBI investigation dubbed “Arctic Frost,” launched in April 2022, targeting various GOP figures and groups in connection with the 2020 election interference case against Trump.
By November 2022, the investigation’s materials were handed over to Smith, who later secured a four-count indictment against Trump in Washington, D.C.
Fast forward to 2023, and the Biden DOJ, under Smith’s direction, reportedly issued subpoenas to telecom giants for the cell phone metadata of several Republican lawmakers, covering calls made between January 4 and January 7, 2021.
This metadata haul included juicy details like call times, recipients, durations, and even locations—hardly the kind of thing you’d want floating around without a rock-solid legal justification.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), leading a coalition of GOP senators, fired off a scathing letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on a recent Friday, accusing the Biden DOJ of outright spying on elected officials.
Among the affected are heavyweights like Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), all of whom signed onto the misconduct complaint.
Other notable names caught in this dragnet include Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), painting a picture of a broad and intrusive probe.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently dropped a bombshell by releasing files showing 92 GOP-connected individuals or groups, including the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, were targeted.
Even more eyebrow-raising, records from FBI Director Kash Patel reveal that Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) was shadowed by agents at his congressional office and district home before having his phone seized.
Blackburn didn’t hold back, previously grilling telecom companies like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile for rolling over without a fight against what she sees as a blatant invasion of privacy.
“As part of Jack Smith’s weaponized witch hunt, the Biden DOJ issued subpoenas to several telecommunications companies in 2023 regarding our cell phone records, gaining access to the time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed on our devices from January 4, 2021, to January 7, 2021,” declared Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) alongside other lawmakers. Talk about a chilling overstep—since when does supporting a political figure justify turning elected officials into surveillance targets?
“What I’ve uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI,” stated Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). If even seasoned senators are sounding the alarm on constitutional breaches, shouldn’t we all be paying closer attention to this power grab?
