Former special counsel Jack Smith defended secretly obtaining Republican lawmakers’ phone records, but he could not say on Tuesday whether his subpoenas sought their physical locations, nor could he recall key details about his demands for conservative fundraising information.
uncertain
he → defend → information
The Senate Judiciary Committee marked Smith’s first time testifying to its members about the nature of his investigations into President Donald Trump prior to Trump’s reelection, as Republicans confronted Smith with records showing how far those investigations extended beyond the president.
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investigations → mark → president
At the outset of the hearing, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) disclosed that investigators obtained at least 4,782 donor checks, including for contributions to Trump as small as $1.
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investigators → disclose → 1
The previously unreported extension of Smith’s sprawling investigation concerned checks covering donations to Trump’s campaign and Trump-aligned groups from September 2019 through August 2023 by Americans across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
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extension → sprawl → states
They contained home addresses, bank account and routing numbers, and signatures.
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They → contain → addresses
The records were routed to former FBI agent Walter Giardina.
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records → rout → Giardina
“Every member on this committee ought to be outraged for what happened to their constituents,” Grassley said.
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Grassley → happen → constituents
A sweeping investigation of the conservative movement
Grassley for months has released records showing the surveillance by Smith’s team extended to a large number of Republican lawmakers as well.
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surveillance → release → lawmakers
Those discoveries led Grassley to delay Smith’s appearance before the committee to ensure maximum oversight over his handling of the cases.
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discoveries → lead → cases
Smith previously testified before the House counterpart committee in January.
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Smith → testify → January
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) pressed Smith on whether the collection of lawmakers’ phone toll records also extended to tracking their whereabouts.
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collection → press → whereabouts
“Do you define toll records to include geolocation data?” Lee asked.
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Lee → define → data
“I would have to look at the subpoena,” Smith replied.
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Smith → have → subpoena
Smith said investigators primarily wanted to establish who communicated with who, when calls occurred, and their duration, rather than what was said on the calls.
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what → say → calls
He could not recall whether the demands included other information.
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demands → recall → information
As part of Smith’s surveillance sweep, he obtained communications between Trump White House officials and members of Congress through National Archives records.
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he → obtain → records
Grassley has said subpoenas for 87 White House phones yielded communications involving 44 lawmakers, including the contents of personal conversations, not just phone tolls.
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subpoenas → say → conversations
Smith said he consulted with the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section before seeking congressional toll records.
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he → say → records
“My recollection is that they approved of the subpoenas,” he said.
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he → approve → subpoenas
That defense was telling, in part because new disclosures made public Tuesday morning about his top prosecutors, J.P. Cooney and Molly Gaston, showed they discussed desires to curtail congressional protections almost two years before joining Smith’s team.
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they → make → team
In a Jan. 5, 2021, message, Cooney, who is now running as a Democrat for Congress, advocated repealing the speech or debate clause while acknowledging prosecutors remained bound by it, the Washington Examiner first reported on Tuesday.
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Examiner → run → Tuesday
The speech or debate clause gives members of Congress special protections from the other two branches of government for their legislative activities.
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clause → give → activities
Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC) challenged the secrecy surrounding investigators’ acquisition of her late brother Lindsey Graham’s records.
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Nordone → challenge → records
“How the hell was Lindsey going to tamper with evidence he didn’t even have in his possession?” she asked, emphasizing that Verizon was the third party in possession of the records.
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Verizon → go → records
Smith had sought to conceal the fact that he obtained lawmakers’ phone records by arguing that he was worried that members would destroy evidence if they had known about the subpoenas.
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they → seek → subpoenas
Smith called Graham “a patriotic public servant” but said he likely would have been a potential witness in a trial against Trump, saying the late senator had investigated and rejected Trump’s election claims, a point he made earlier in the hearing as well for figures such as former Vice President Mike Pence and former Republican Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers.
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he → call → Pence
Pressed on why the nondisclosure order cited evidence destruction, Smith pointed to possible witness intimidation by Trump.
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Smith → press → Trump
He offered no explanation of how Graham could have tampered with or destroyed Verizon’s phone tolls concerning his name.
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Graham → offer → name
“I think you’re just trying to bully my brother and other allies of President Trump,” Graham Nordone said.
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Nordone → think → Trump
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) encountered similar memory lapses from the former special counsel.
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Cruz → encounter → counsel
Smith could not recall whether his team subpoenaed records concerning the Republican National Committee or Turning Point USA, but remembered that his team sought records from the Conservative Partnership Institute.
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team → recall → Institute
“OK, good. We found one,” Cruz replied.
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Cruz → find → one
Asked about donor and fundraising information, Smith said he had not seen the subpoenas “in a very long time.”
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he → ask → time
He argued that investigators needed to determine whether people or organizations illegally attempted to block the peaceful transfer of power, although records used in that prosecution contained no evidence that any of the targeted groups were involved with criminal activity.
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any → argue → activity
Critics have characterized the sweep of conservative groups as overly broad.
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Critics → characterize → groups
Grassley also released records challenging aspects of Smith’s classified documents prosecution.
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Grassley → release → prosecution
According to the chairman, NARA’s inspector general initially requested DOJ assessment and guidance about Trump’s retention of some classified documents from his first term, rather than making a criminal referral.
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general → accord → referral
Internal communications described the FBI’s early assessment that the classified information “spillage” issue was unlikely to become a criminal matter.
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issue → describe → assessment
Separately, Grassley said former NARA general counsel Gary Stern edited DOJ court filings, challenging Smith’s representations about the archive agency’s limited role.
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Stern → say → role
Democrats pushed to obtain more details about Smith’s account that are still under seal due to a federal court order issued by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, in the classified documents case.
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that → push → case
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
