A new batch of Department of Justice records released Tuesday is fueling fresh scrutiny over former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump, with Republican lawmakers accusing Smith’s team of bypassing long-established legal safeguards while obtaining communications involving dozens of members of Congress.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) made public internal DOJ records they say reveal Smith’s investigative team directly accessed text message contents involving 44 current and former lawmakers without first following the department’s required review process for potentially privileged communications.
The records stem from the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, the federal probe examining efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. That investigation was transferred to Jack Smith’s office after he was appointed special counsel in November 2022, giving his team control over a growing collection of evidence related to the case.
