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Former special counsel Jack Smith is standing by his 2023 decision to subpoena several Republican lawmakers’ phone records, calling the move “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy.
Smith said through his lawyers in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital that the subpoenaed data, known as toll records, belonging to eight senators and one House member were carefully targeted to support his investigation into President Donald Trump’s alleged subversion of the 2020 election.
“As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote Tuesday to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
JACK SMITH INVESTIGATORS NEED TO ‘PAY BIG’ FOR JAN. 6 PHONE RECORDS PROBE, WARNS SEN. GRAHAM
Former special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on an unsealed indictment including four felony counts against President Donald Trump, Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Toll records do not reveal the contents of phone calls but instead reveal when calls were made and to whom.
Smith’s lawyers said that although Grassley, who brought the subpoenas to light, has not reached out to Smith, they felt compelled to write to the chairman to address claims from Republicans that Smith improperly spied on lawmakers.
Grassley responded to the letter, saying he would continue an unbiased probe into Arctic Frost, the name of the FBI investigation that led to Smith’s election-related prosecution of Trump.
“I’m conducting an objective assessment of the facts&law like he says he wants So far we exposed an anti-Trump FBI agent started the investigation/broke FBI rules &only REPUBLICANS were targeted SMELLS LIKE POLITICS,” Grassley wrote on X.
The targeted senators…
