Newly released documents show that former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team went fishing for phone records of Republican lawmakers in a probe that’s got more drama than a primetime soap opera.
Documents from Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office, first shared with Fox News Digital, reveal that Smith’s 2023 FBI investigation, dubbed Arctic Frost, targeted phone data of GOP senators and a House member as part of election charges against President Donald Trump.
This saga kicked off with subpoenas issued to Verizon and AT&T, seeking toll records for a tight four-day window around the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including call details, texts, and subscriber info—but not the actual content of communications.
Verizon played ball, handing over data for 12 phone numbers linked to 10 senators, including previously unreported Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and one House member, though names were redacted and later replaced by Grassley’s office.
AT&T, on the other hand, dug in its heels when asked for records tied to two lawmakers, one being Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questioning the legal grounds for targeting Congress members.
As AT&T’s General Counsel David Chorzempa put it, "When AT&T raised questions with Special Counsel Smith’s office concerning the legal basis for seeking records of members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not pursue the subpoena further, and no records were produced."
Well, isn’t that convenient? AT&T’s stand looks principled, but one wonders if Smith’s team backed off because they knew the ground was shakier than a house of cards in a windstorm.
Adding fuel to the fire, gag orders signed by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg kept Verizon and AT&T from notifying the lawmakers about these subpoenas for a full year.
Verizon, defending its compliance, claimed the subpoenas were "facially valid" and only involved phone numbers, not names, though they’ve since tightened their policies after chats with the Senate Sergeant at Arms.
The list of targeted senators reads like a who’s who of GOP heavyweights: Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, Ted Cruz, and Rick Scott.
These lawmakers aren’t just annoyed—they’re downright furious, accusing Smith of improper spying and likening the Arctic Frost probe to something worse than Watergate, which is saying a lot.
They’ve raised serious constitutional red flags, pointing to the speech and debate clause as a shield against such investigations, arguing this kind of overreach could chill Congress’s ability to hold the executive branch accountable.
Smith, through his legal team, insists the subpoenas were narrowly tailored to that four-day period around Jan. 6 and were even mentioned in his public final report, as if that makes everything peachy.
Meanwhile, the senators aren’t buying it, and the debate rages on with House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, pushing for a closed-door grilling of Smith, while Grassley wants more details before a public hearing.
Let’s not forget the cautionary words of former Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who warned in 2023 against subpoenaing lawmakers’ data except in rare cases, noting the risk of hampering Congress’s oversight role—a warning that feels awfully relevant here.
