Former special counsel Jack Smith’s decision to subpoena several Republican lawmakers’ phone records as part of his investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss was “entirely proper, lawful, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy,” his lawyers said Tuesday.
“While Mr. Smith’s prosecutions of President Trump have predictably been politicized by others, politics never influenced his decision making,” Peter Koski and Lanny Breuer, attorneys at Covington & Burling, wrote in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
“A number of people have falsely stated that Mr. Smith ‘tapped’ Senators’ phones, ‘spied’ on their communications, or ‘surveilled’ their conversations,” they said.
“As you know, toll records merely contain telephonic routing information collected after the calls have taken place — identifying incoming and outgoing call numbers, the time of the calls, and their duration. Toll records are historical in nature, and do not include the content of calls.”
“Wiretapping, by contrast, involves intercepting the telecommunications in real time, which the Special Counsel’s Office did not do,” they added.
Trump had been indicted in August 2023 on charges of working to overturn the election, but the case was delayed by appeals and ultimately significantly narrowed by a conservative-majority Supreme Court that held for the first time that former presidents enjoy sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.
Smith in January said his team “stood up for the rule of law” as it investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, writing in a much-anticipated report that he stands fully behind his decision to bring criminal charges that he believes would have resulted in a conviction had voters not returned Trump to the White House.
The FBI, as part of Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, reportedly obtained phone toll records, not wiretaps, for several Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; and Sen. Cynthia Lummis,R-Wyo.; as well as Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
The records, obtained through court orders in 2023, detailed call times and connections but did not include the content of any conversations. Separately, the FBI seized the phone of Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., pursuant to a warrant; that’s different from a live wiretap and has been litigated in court.
Some critics have described this as “spying,” and new letters from GOP senators are pressing telecoms for details, but credible reporting still characterizes what was obtained as records, not wiretaps.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
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