Hagerty Takes First Legal Action of any Member of Congress in Response to Arctic Frost

Complaint was filed with the FCC over Verizon's unlawful response to Biden DOJ subpoena

WASHINGTON-Today, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) took the first legal action of any member of Congress against Verizon for violating federal law by disclosing the senator's phone records to President Biden's DOJ-cooperating with Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation targeting President Trump and his supporters, now known as Arctic Frost.

Senator Hagerty filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission outlining how Verizon violated federal law by disclosing the senator's customer proprietary network information and for failing to take reasonable measures to protect his information.

Senator Hagerty is represented by David Thompson and Clark Hildabrand of Cooper & Kirk, attorneys with a long track record of success all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Statement From Senator Bill Hagerty:

"Verizon eagerly handed my private phone records without a fight," said Senator Hagerty. "I've been a customer for decades-Verizon's complicity in the witch hunt against President Trump and his supporters, like me, constitutes a profound breach of trust. If this can happen to a sitting United States Senator, it can happen to any American. We need accountability."

"That's why I'm pleased to take this first step in holding Verizon's feet to the fire. Their CEO, Dan Schulman, and CLO Vandana Venkatesh, a former Henry Waxman staffer, chose to ignore my inquiries when I sent them letters. Maybe the FCC will fare better."

"Any customer would expect Verizon to challenge a patently unconstitutional subpoena like the one it received for my records, but Verizon just rolled over instead, and that disclosure violated federal law and the FCC's regulations. The Biden DOJ would never have gotten my phone records if Verizon hadn't played along. I'm not asking for compensation. I'm asking to get to the bottom of what happened. I want Verizon to discipline its leaders who were responsible, and I want to make sure it will never happen again."

Key points in the complaint:

• Days after President Trump launched his 2024 presidential campaign, the Biden DOJ ordered Special Counsel Jack Smith to prosecute President Trump. As part of that political conspiracy against the Trump campaign, the Biden DOJ asked Verizon to produce phone records from Senator Hagerty and other congressional allies of President Trump. Consistent with President Trump's America First agenda, Senator Hagerty proudly advances policies that put hardworking Americans and Tennesseans first. Verizon put its relationship with the Biden Administration first.

• Our Constitution clearly protects legislative communications from disclosure to federal prosecutors. But Verizon made no effort to challenge the Biden DOJ's manifestly unconstitutional request. While AT&T refused to cooperate with a similar request, Verizon secretly betrayed its customers' trust and handed over even more information than the Biden DOJ had requested.

• Verizon refuses to apologize for its malfeasance. As Verizon sought federal approval for its acquisition of Frontier, Verizon continued to cover up its illegal disclosure of phone records and submitted false information to the Senate about its disclosures of Senate phone records. When its actions became public knowledge, Verizon played dumb. Verizon pleaded ignorance about the investigation and refused to provide Senator Hagerty with more information because of a dubiously obtained gag order that Verizon knew had expired by its own terms over a year before.

• Verizon supported the Biden DOJ's anti-Republican lawfare by illegally disclosing Senator Hagerty's phone records. The FCC must hold Verizon accountable.

Senator Hagerty is demanding:

• A written apology and admission it broke the law by Verizon's CEO, Dan Schulman, and CLO, Vandana Venkatesh.
• Discipline of those responsible, including the CLO (Venkatesh) and then-CEO, now Special Advisor (Hans Vestberg).
• Documents and information about how Verizon processed this subpoena, and its communications with the Special Counsel.
• Reform of Verizon's practices to ensure this doesn't happen again.

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