Grassley Demands Answers from Telecom Companies Who Turned Congressional Phone Records Over to Jack Smith

Grassley Demands Answers from Telecom Companies Who Turned Congressional Phone Records Over to Jack Smith

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee is putting Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile in the hot seat after Chairman Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) oversight revealed the three companies secretly provided toll records for accounts associated with members of Congress to Jack Smith and the Arctic Frost investigation.

Grassley, along with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has identified 84 Arctic Frost and Jack Smith subpoenas sent to the three companies. Ten of these subpoenas requested tolling records for 20 current or former Republican members of Congress.

Grassley is convening a suite of hearings this year as part of the Judiciary Committee's ongoing oversight of the weaponized Arctic Frost investigation. He delivered an opening statement at the first hearing, held today by the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law and chaired by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Video and transcribed remarks follow.

Prepared Opening Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
"Arctic Frost Accountability: Oversight of Telecommunications Carriers' Responses to Jack Smith's Witch Hunt"
Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law
Tuesday, February 10, 2026

VIDEO

Thank you, Chair Blackburn, for your leadership on this matter.

Today is the first in a series of Arctic Frost hearings that I've authorized as Chairman.

I started the Arctic Frost investigation in July 2022 based on credible whistleblower disclosures.

Those whistleblowers disclosed partisan bias in the genesis of the election case against Trump and related allegations.

I've always said, if you're going to open a politically charged investigation, it must be done the right way.

That partisan bias started with then-FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Thibault and others. And it continued through Jack Smith's case.

As I've shown through Thibault's own social media and emails, he was out to get Trump. And he violated the FBI's rules along the way. He also violated the Hatch Act for political conduct at the FBI.

Many years of investigation have resulted in thousands of records made public.

Let me emphasize that many of the records I've made public this Congress, starting in January of 2025 with Patel's nomination hearing, have come from brave whistleblowers.

Other whistleblower disclosures to my office have helped this administration identify responsive records for Congress.

The New York Times has shamefully published a series of articles trying to undermine those whistleblowers. The Times has disgracefully accused them of violating the law while defending partisan agents and prosecutors who've been exposed for bad conduct.

During this investigation, Senator Johnson and I've uncovered how Jack Smith massively expanded the election case.

And that's been a focus of our investigation - the improper expansion of Jack Smith's work.

He didn't just target Trump.

Jack Smith issued hundreds of subpoenas targeting over 400 Republican individuals and organizations.

Some of those subpoenas sought broad and extensive financial data from Republican groups, communications with the media and the legislative branch.

Communications relating to media companies included, CBS, Fox News, Fox Business, Newsmax, Sinclair and others. Why haven't these media companies condemned these actions?

Financial data relating to Republican groups included the Republican National Committee, Turning Point USA and hundreds of other organizations.

These invasive efforts were spear-headed by partisan agents and prosecutors. Many have now been justifiably fired, despite the Democrats complaining about it.

It's more than reasonable to question why Smith needed vast financial data, and what his partisan team would ultimately do with it.

It's worth noting that two of Jack Smith's partisan prosecutors, J.P. Cooney and Molly Gaston, reportedly filed a complaint with the Department of Justice Inspector General.

That complaint was in response to whistleblowers providing me the 197 subpoenas that targeted over 400 Republican groups and individuals.

Cooney and Gaston reportedly wrongfully asserted my whistleblowers broke the law in blowing the whistle. The dedication my whistleblowers have to transparency far outweighs improper efforts to silence them by these two rogue prosecutors.

In light of Jack Smith and his team's partisan efforts to chill whistleblowers and aggressively seek sensitive information relating to Republican groups and individuals, their effort to target Republican members' tolling data is even more questionable.

To that point, on December 10, 2025, I released several emails.

Those emails showed Smith's team was warned that subpoenaing congressional information could violate the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution.

They were warned that legislators may intervene and oppose that subpoena process.

But here, in this case, my colleagues couldn't intervene because Smith and his team successfully obtained non-disclosure orders, keeping everything top secret.

Smith and his team irresponsibly steam rolled ahead while intentionally hiding their activity from Members of Congress.

Since October 9, 2025, this committee has sought information from phone companies about Jack Smith's efforts to obtain congressional information.

My and Sen. Johnson's investigative teams have also provided the companies with additional search terms to get to the bottom of the matter.

To-date, T-Mobile has identified a subpoena for toll records from Senator Lee's personal phone.

AT&T initially asserted it didn't provide information to Jack Smith relating to any member of Congress.

Then, in November of last year, AT&T amended its answer because it did respond to a subpoena related to former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

Regarding Verizon, two numbers targeted by Jack Smith were associated with Senate Sergeant at Arms phone lines.

Notably, on May 22, 2022, the Senate entered into a contract with Verizon.

That contract created an affirmative notification requirement for Senate devices.

Which means, under the contract, Verizon was required to notify the Senate Sergeant at Arms when a member office was subject to a subpoena.

And according to the Senate Sergeant at Arms, these terms applied to the May 25, 2023, subpoena that included two Senate lines - one for Sen. Cruz, the other for Sen. Graham.

Verizon failed to perform that notification requirement.

Under questioning by my staff, Verizon said they didn't have the infrastructure in place to know whether a congressional number was subpoenaed until February 2025.

A federal statute also says that a carrier shall not be barred from providing notice to a Senate office about a subpoena.

Today, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile will have a chance to explain themselves.

To-date, my and Senator Johnson's oversight of these companies has identified that Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile received at least 84 Arctic Frost or Jack Smith related subpoenas.

At least ten are related to 20 current or former Republican Members of Congress.Smith's deceitful conduct was a substantial intrusion into the core constitutional activity of constitutional officers.

If this happened to my Democratic colleagues, they'd be as rightly outraged as we are.

My work will continue - transparency brings accountability.

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