WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined a letter led by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to four major telecommunication companies seeking all records of Congressional Republicans handed over to Special Counsel Jack Smith as part of the Biden-era Arctic Frost investigation.
The letters, addressed to Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Lumen, additionally question whether the companies challenged Smith’s subpoenas on any grounds.
“By law, the Senators’ offices retain possession of their Senate data from both dual use and Senate specific devices and service providers do not acquire ‘possession, custody, or control’ of that data,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Even if the phone numbers above do not fall into those categories, there are serious constitutional questions that those communications are still subject to constitutional protections. Indeed, the time period Jack Smith focused his secret efforts to obtain the records from constitutional officers falls squarely within a core constitutional duty – certification of the electoral college,” they added.
“That raises a reasonable concern that calls, texts, and emails sent from or to those devices may have been acts consistent with the duties of office. Accordingly, we request records of all requests or orders made by the Department of Justice (DOJ) or any federal law enforcement agency to you, informally or formally, through service of legal process, for all data or information related to the following Members’ devices where you were the provider,” the members of Congress continued.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) also joined the letters, as did Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.).
Read the lawmakers’ full letters below:
On Oct. 9, Kennedy joined another letter led by Grassley and Johnson seeking information from the DOJ and FBI related to Smith’s subpoenas for the telephone records of Republican lawmakers.
