{"id":1299,"date":"2026-07-15T18:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299"},"modified":"2026-07-15T18:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:07:11","slug":"jack-smith-surveilled-dozens-of-members-of-congress-as-part-of-trump-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299","title":{"rendered":"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former special counsel Jack Smith will be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee after newly released Justice Department records showed his investigative team accessed text messages involving 44 members of Congress during its criminal investigation into Trump, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more \u2018I\u2019m Happy\u2019: Agents Celebrate After Trump Reverses Controversial ICE Order<\/a><\/p>\n

The records, released jointly by Grassley and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI), indicate Smith\u2019s investigators bypassed a Justice Department \u201cFilter Team\u201d that had been established to review potentially privileged communications before investigators could access them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The records show messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress were accessed, including Republicans such as Grassley, Johnson, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).<\/span><\/p>\n

Several Democratic lawmakers were also included, among them Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), former Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a <\/span> from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis provided to the committee, Smith\u2019s investigative team \u201capparently bypassed the Filter Team and directly accessed these text messages.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJack Smith\u2019s criminal investigation of President Trump was a runaway train that had no brakes,\u201d Grassley said in a <\/span>statement<\/span>. \u201cBased on the information that\u2019s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government\u2019s investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s revelations build on earlier scrutiny of Smith\u2019s investigation. Senate Republicans <\/span>previously disclosed<\/span> that Smith subpoenaed phone records belonging to multiple Republican lawmakers during Operation Arctic Frost, prompting hearings into how telecommunications companies handled those requests. The newly released DOJ records go further, indicating investigators accessed the contents of text messages involving 44 members of Congress after allegedly bypassing the department\u2019s normal privilege-screening procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grassley added that Smith \u201chas answering to do,\u201d saying he intends to bring the former special counsel before the Senate Judiciary Committee \u201cin the coming months to hold him accountable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more \u2018I\u2019m Happy\u2019: Officers Celebrate After Trump Reverses Controversial ICE Order<\/a><\/p>\n

The communications were obtained after Smith\u2019s office subpoenaed the National Archives in June 2023 for text messages sent between October 2020 and January 20, 2021, from phones used by numerous Trump White House officials, including Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Ivanka Trump, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, John Ratcliffe, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway, and then-Vice President Mike Pence.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to documents released by Grassley, the National Archives delivered the records to Smith\u2019s office on August 21, 2023. Internal DOJ emails show members of Smith\u2019s investigative team began downloading and reviewing the files within an hour of receiving them, before the designated Filter Team had completed its review.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Filter Team exists to screen records for potentially privileged material, including attorney-client communications and communications protected under the Constitution\u2019s Speech or Debate Clause, which shields members of Congress from executive branch interference involving their legislative work. Grassley and Johnson argue Smith\u2019s team circumvented those safeguards by directly reviewing lawmakers\u2019 communications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stefanik, whose messages were among those reviewed, said the newly revealed records prove Jack Smith\u2019s team \u201cunlawfully and unconstitutionally accessed my private text messages, along with 43 other Members of Congress, in clear violation of the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson called the revelations \u201cyet another grotesque example of the Biden administration\u2019s weaponization of the Justice Department.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The newly released records also appear to complicate Smith\u2019s previous congressional testimony. During a December 2025 deposition, Smith answered \u201cno\u201d when asked whether his investigation had obtained the content of text messages from members of Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith has not publicly responded to Grassley\u2019s announcement or the newly released documents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Democrats Successfully Bully Joe Biden Into Changing Plans For His Tell-All Book<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former special counsel Jack Smith will be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee after newly released Justice Department records showed his investigative team accessed text messages involving 44 members of Congress during its criminal investigation into Trump, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced Tuesday.The records, released jointly by Grassley and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI), indicate Smith\u2019s investigators bypassed a Justice Department \u201cFilter Team\u201d that had been established to review potentially privileged communications before investigators could access them.The records show messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress were accessed, including Republicans such as Grassley, Johnson, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).Several Democratic lawmakers were also included, among them Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), former Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).According to a letter from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis provided to the committee, Smith\u2019s investigative team \u201capparently bypassed the Filter Team and directly accessed these text messages.\u201d\u201cJack Smith\u2019s criminal investigation of President Trump was a runaway train that had no brakes,\u201d Grassley said in a statement. \u201cBased on the information that\u2019s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government\u2019s investigation.\u201dTuesday\u2019s revelations build on earlier scrutiny of Smith\u2019s investigation. Senate Republicans previously disclosed that Smith subpoenaed phone records belonging to multiple Republican lawmakers during Operation Arctic Frost, prompting hearings into how telecommunications companies handled those requests. The newly released DOJ records go further, indicating investigators accessed the contents of text messages involving 44 members of Congress after allegedly bypassing the department\u2019s normal privilege-screening procedures.Grassley added that Smith \u201chas answering to do,\u201d saying he intends to bring the former special counsel before the Senate Judiciary Committee \u201cin the coming months to hold him accountable.\u201dThe communications were obtained after Smith\u2019s office subpoenaed the National Archives in June 2023 for text messages sent between October 2020 and January 20, 2021, from phones used by numerous Trump White House officials, including Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Ivanka Trump, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, John Ratcliffe, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway, and then-Vice President Mike Pence.According to documents released by Grassley, the National Archives delivered the records to Smith\u2019s office on August 21, 2023. Internal DOJ emails show members of Smith\u2019s investigative team began downloading and reviewing the files within an hour of receiving them, before the designated Filter Team had completed its review.The Filter Team exists to screen records for potentially privileged material, including attorney-client communications and communications protected under the Constitution\u2019s Speech or Debate Clause, which shields members of Congress from executive branch interference involving their legislative work. Grassley and Johnson argue Smith\u2019s team circumvented those safeguards by directly reviewing lawmakers\u2019 communications.Stefanik, whose messages were among those reviewed, said the newly revealed records prove Jack Smith\u2019s team \u201cunlawfully and unconstitutionally accessed my private text messages, along with 43 other Members of Congress, in clear violation of the Constitution.\u201dJohnson called the revelations \u201cyet another grotesque example of the Biden administration\u2019s weaponization of the Justice Department.\u201dThe newly released records also appear to complicate Smith\u2019s previous congressional testimony. During a December 2025 deposition, Smith answered \u201cno\u201d when asked whether his investigation had obtained the content of text messages from members of Congress.Smith has not publicly responded to Grassley\u2019s announcement or the newly released documents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2"],"yoast_head":"\nJack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation - Blue Route Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation - Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former special counsel Jack Smith will be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee after newly released Justice Department records showed his investigative team accessed text messages involving 44 members of Congress during its criminal investigation into Trump, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced Tuesday.The records, released jointly by Grassley and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI), indicate Smith\u2019s investigators bypassed a Justice Department \u201cFilter Team\u201d that had been established to review potentially privileged communications before investigators could access them.The records show messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress were accessed, including Republicans such as Grassley, Johnson, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).Several Democratic lawmakers were also included, among them Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), former Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).According to a letter from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis provided to the committee, Smith\u2019s investigative team \u201capparently bypassed the Filter Team and directly accessed these text messages.\u201d\u201cJack Smith\u2019s criminal investigation of President Trump was a runaway train that had no brakes,\u201d Grassley said in a statement. \u201cBased on the information that\u2019s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government\u2019s investigation.\u201dTuesday\u2019s revelations build on earlier scrutiny of Smith\u2019s investigation. Senate Republicans previously disclosed that Smith subpoenaed phone records belonging to multiple Republican lawmakers during Operation Arctic Frost, prompting hearings into how telecommunications companies handled those requests. The newly released DOJ records go further, indicating investigators accessed the contents of text messages involving 44 members of Congress after allegedly bypassing the department\u2019s normal privilege-screening procedures.Grassley added that Smith \u201chas answering to do,\u201d saying he intends to bring the former special counsel before the Senate Judiciary Committee \u201cin the coming months to hold him accountable.\u201dThe communications were obtained after Smith\u2019s office subpoenaed the National Archives in June 2023 for text messages sent between October 2020 and January 20, 2021, from phones used by numerous Trump White House officials, including Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Ivanka Trump, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, John Ratcliffe, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway, and then-Vice President Mike Pence.According to documents released by Grassley, the National Archives delivered the records to Smith\u2019s office on August 21, 2023. Internal DOJ emails show members of Smith\u2019s investigative team began downloading and reviewing the files within an hour of receiving them, before the designated Filter Team had completed its review.The Filter Team exists to screen records for potentially privileged material, including attorney-client communications and communications protected under the Constitution\u2019s Speech or Debate Clause, which shields members of Congress from executive branch interference involving their legislative work. Grassley and Johnson argue Smith\u2019s team circumvented those safeguards by directly reviewing lawmakers\u2019 communications.Stefanik, whose messages were among those reviewed, said the newly revealed records prove Jack Smith\u2019s team \u201cunlawfully and unconstitutionally accessed my private text messages, along with 43 other Members of Congress, in clear violation of the Constitution.\u201dJohnson called the revelations \u201cyet another grotesque example of the Biden administration\u2019s weaponization of the Justice Department.\u201dThe newly released records also appear to complicate Smith\u2019s previous congressional testimony. During a December 2025 deposition, Smith answered \u201cno\u201d when asked whether his investigation had obtained the content of text messages from members of Congress.Smith has not publicly responded to Grassley\u2019s announcement or the newly released documents.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Route Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-15T18:07:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c\"},\"headline\":\"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-15T18:07:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299\"},\"wordCount\":693,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/5ed3210c78fa2353cbe3c4dab4f2152d.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blueroutejournal.com\\\/?p=1299\",\"name\":\"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation - 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Blue Route Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation - Blue Route Journal","og_description":"Former special counsel Jack Smith will be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee after newly released Justice Department records showed his investigative team accessed text messages involving 44 members of Congress during its criminal investigation into Trump, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced Tuesday.The records, released jointly by Grassley and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI), indicate Smith\u2019s investigators bypassed a Justice Department \u201cFilter Team\u201d that had been established to review potentially privileged communications before investigators could access them.The records show messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress were accessed, including Republicans such as Grassley, Johnson, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).Several Democratic lawmakers were also included, among them Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), former Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ).According to a letter from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis provided to the committee, Smith\u2019s investigative team \u201capparently bypassed the Filter Team and directly accessed these text messages.\u201d\u201cJack Smith\u2019s criminal investigation of President Trump was a runaway train that had no brakes,\u201d Grassley said in a statement. \u201cBased on the information that\u2019s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government\u2019s investigation.\u201dTuesday\u2019s revelations build on earlier scrutiny of Smith\u2019s investigation. Senate Republicans previously disclosed that Smith subpoenaed phone records belonging to multiple Republican lawmakers during Operation Arctic Frost, prompting hearings into how telecommunications companies handled those requests. The newly released DOJ records go further, indicating investigators accessed the contents of text messages involving 44 members of Congress after allegedly bypassing the department\u2019s normal privilege-screening procedures.Grassley added that Smith \u201chas answering to do,\u201d saying he intends to bring the former special counsel before the Senate Judiciary Committee \u201cin the coming months to hold him accountable.\u201dThe communications were obtained after Smith\u2019s office subpoenaed the National Archives in June 2023 for text messages sent between October 2020 and January 20, 2021, from phones used by numerous Trump White House officials, including Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Ivanka Trump, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, John Ratcliffe, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway, and then-Vice President Mike Pence.According to documents released by Grassley, the National Archives delivered the records to Smith\u2019s office on August 21, 2023. Internal DOJ emails show members of Smith\u2019s investigative team began downloading and reviewing the files within an hour of receiving them, before the designated Filter Team had completed its review.The Filter Team exists to screen records for potentially privileged material, including attorney-client communications and communications protected under the Constitution\u2019s Speech or Debate Clause, which shields members of Congress from executive branch interference involving their legislative work. Grassley and Johnson argue Smith\u2019s team circumvented those safeguards by directly reviewing lawmakers\u2019 communications.Stefanik, whose messages were among those reviewed, said the newly revealed records prove Jack Smith\u2019s team \u201cunlawfully and unconstitutionally accessed my private text messages, along with 43 other Members of Congress, in clear violation of the Constitution.\u201dJohnson called the revelations \u201cyet another grotesque example of the Biden administration\u2019s weaponization of the Justice Department.\u201dThe newly released records also appear to complicate Smith\u2019s previous congressional testimony. During a December 2025 deposition, Smith answered \u201cno\u201d when asked whether his investigation had obtained the content of text messages from members of Congress.Smith has not publicly responded to Grassley\u2019s announcement or the newly released documents.","og_url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299","og_site_name":"Blue Route Journal","article_published_time":"2026-07-15T18:07:11+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/19da116f8d79cf8987781569801c6b7c"},"headline":"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation","datePublished":"2026-07-15T18:07:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299"},"wordCount":693,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5ed3210c78fa2353cbe3c4dab4f2152d.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299","url":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=1299","name":"Jack Smith Surveilled Dozens Of Members Of Congress As Part Of Trump Investigation - 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