Overview
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn led a Friday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi referring Jack Smith to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility and to bar authorities in Tennessee and New York for potential misconduct and disbarment.
- The lawmakers allege Smith’s team subpoenaed telecom providers in 2023 for toll records showing time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed between January 4 and January 7, 2021, raising Speech or Debate Clause and separation-of-powers concerns.
- Documents released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley indicate toll analysis was obtained for nine Republicans, including Sens. Ron Johnson, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, and Cynthia Lummis, while other signatories to the referral include Sens. Lindsey Graham, Tommy Tuberville, Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Mike Kelly.
- The dispute traces to the FBI’s Arctic Frost probe launched in April 2022, whose materials were provided to Smith in November 2022 and which Grassley says touched at least 92 GOP-aligned individuals or groups.
- Smith and the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility have not responded to requests for comment, and Republicans are also seeking records from telecom companies about what was produced under the subpoenas.