Grassley, Colleagues Grill Verizon for Failing to Disclose Arctic Frost Subpoenas to Congress

Grassley, Colleagues Grill Verizon for Failing to Disclose Arctic Frost Subpoenas to Congress

BUTLER COUNTY, IOWA - U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is leading 15 Senate colleagues in a letter pressing Verizon for details on its decision to hand over senators' phone toll records to Special Counsel Jack Smith and the company's failure to disclose its actions to affected members of Congress. The Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile CEOs were called to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law earlier this year.

In October 2023, Grassley asked Verizon to search for all requests or orders made by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) or any federal law enforcement agency between January 2016 - October 2023 related to Senate devices and Crossfire Hurricane. In its response to Grassley, Verizon did not list the Arctic Frost subpoena requests Smith issued to Verizon to access senators' toll records during that timeframe. Grassley and his colleagues are seeking clarification as to whether Verizon discovered the Arctic Frost subpoena requests in 2023 during its search for member devices and, if so, why Verizon didn't disclose the information at that time.

"Jack Smith oversaw a sweeping and unprecedented investigation that swept up records from hundreds of Republican entities, including the phone toll records and text messages from myself and dozens of my colleagues," Grassley said. "Congress deserves to know the full picture of how Smith carried out Arctic Frost so it never happens again. As part of our investigation, we need to fully understand what Verizon knew about Smith's subpoenas, when they became aware members were impacted and why the company didn't inform members like they were supposed to."

The letter was cosigned by U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)* and U.S. Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)*, Rick Scott (R-Fla.)*, Mike Lee (R-Utah)*, Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)*, Ted Cruz (R-Texas)*, Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)*, Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)*, Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Darline Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas)* and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)*.

*Denotes a senator who had his or her phone toll records and/or text messages swept up by Jack Smith.

Read the letter HERE and learn more about Grassley's Arctic Frost oversight HERE.

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