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Bondi Says Smith Seized Trump’s Official Phone as GOP Oversight of Arctic Frost Intensifies

Verizon has acknowledged providing lawmakers’ toll records under a judge’s nondisclosure order.

Overview

  • Attorney General Pam Bondi said Special Counsel Jack Smith took custody of President Trump’s government-issued phone and subpoenaed his personal call records during the Arctic Frost investigation.
  • Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked Bondi to unseal grand-jury materials, including the application for Chief Judge James Boasberg’s order that kept subpoenas for lawmakers’ phone metadata secret for a year.
  • Verizon confirmed it turned over call records for certain members of Congress in 2023 under court-ordered secrecy and announced a new requirement for senior executive review of subpoenas involving lawmakers.
  • House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan launched an inquiry into how Verizon and AT&T handled the subpoenas and nondisclosure orders, noting AT&T resisted some requests and raising Speech or Debate Clause concerns.
  • Whistleblower and committee disclosures show 197 subpoenas were issued as part of Arctic Frost, including toll-record requests tied to at least 10 Republican lawmakers for a multi-day window around Jan. 6, 2021.