Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. and other lawmakers on Friday, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, called for the Department of Justice to refer former Special Counsel Jack Smith for investigation in connection with the Biden-era FBI’s tracking of private communications and phone calls of eight lawmakers.
“We write today following last week’s deeply disturbing revelations that the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) spied on duly elected members of Congress,” they said in the letter, adding that the “invasion of our privacy” was a “fishing expedition” to target President Donald Trump.
The letter went on to request that Smith be referred to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).
“As part of Jack Smith’s weaponized witch hunt, the Biden DOJ issued subpoenas to several telecommunications companies in 2023 regarding our cell phone records, gaining access to the time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed on our devices from January 4, 2021, to January 7, 2021,” the letter continued.
“We have yet to learn of any criminal predicate for the Biden Department of Justice issuing subpoenas to obtain these cell phone records.”
The letter further alleges that Smith engaged in “serious prosecutorial misconduct” through the politically motivated Arctic Frost investigation and calls for disciplinary action, including disbarment.
The letter, also signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska,and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., follows Blackburn’s efforts to obtain answers from cell phone carriers about why they allegedly allowed the FBI to track the private communications and calls of eight lawmakers, including herself and the others signing the demands.
According to the letter, subpoenas were issued to several telecommunications companies in 2023 seeking details about lawmakers’ calls, including the time, duration, recipient, and location of calls made between Jan. 4 and Jan. 7, 2021.
Smith, the lawmakers said, was acting as a “rogue special counsel” and violating the separation of powers by spying on elected officials.
“By infringing on our constitutional rights and obligations as elected federal officials, Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors trampled on this separation of powers principle that underlies our system of government,” they wrote.
The letter also claims the alleged surveillance interfered with legislative duties protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
The lawmakers further asserted that Smith’s team used a grand jury subpoena “without sufficient rationale or cause” to obtain their phone records, calling the move politically motivated.
They also asked that findings from the investigation be referred to bar associations in Tennessee and New York, where Smith is licensed, “for possible disciplinary action, including disbarment.”
“The conduct that Jack Smith and his team engaged in harkens back to a dark chapter in American history that we have not seen since the days of J. Edgar Hoover,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must ensure that we never return to that era again.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
