Nearly ten Republican senators and a representative had their private communications allegedly tracked by former Special Counsel Jack Smith under the Biden administration, FBI Director Kash Patel revealed Monday.
Files obtained by Fox News show that Smith, in his official capacity at the Department of Justice (DOJ) as he investigated President Donald Trump and the events of January 6, 2021, was allegedly tracking the phone calls of Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (WI), Josh Hawley (MO), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Bill Hagerty (TN), Dan Sullivan (AK), Tommy Tuberville (AL), and Republican Rep. Mike Kelly (PA).
The alarming document, revealing that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team had subpoenaed telephone providers for the lawmakers’ records in 2023, was “recently discovered” by Patel, according to Fox News.
Patel confirmed the legitimacy of the findings in an X post, writing, “We recently uncovered proof that phone records of U.S. lawmakers were seized for political purposes.”
“That abuse of power ends now,” the FBI director continued. “Under my leadership, the FBI will deliver truth and accountability, and never again be weaponized against the American people.”
An FBI official told the outlet that Smith and his team, which was opened in the bureau in 2022, were able to see which numbers the politicians contacted, the locations from where the calls originated, and the locations where they were received.
Officials also explained that the records were investigated pursuant to an oversight request from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), which Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino personally directed in response.
A source added that the calls were “likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election,” Fox News reported.
Bongino briefed the impacted lawmakers on Monday afternoon and told the publication it is a “disgrace” that he had to reveal those findings.
“It is a disgrace that I have to stand on Capitol Hill and reveal this — that the FBI was once weaponized to track the private communications of U.S. lawmakers for political purposes,” Bongino said. “That era is over.”
He added, “Under our leadership, the FBI will never again be used as a political weapon against the American people.”
Several of the senators who had allegedly been spied on spoke at a subsequent press conference with Grassley and made statements on their respective social media pages, with Hawley calling Smith’s actions an “abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment.”
Lummis called the surveillance an “attack on the legislative branch under the Biden administration” that demands “immediate investigation and prosecution.”
Johnson and Hagerty emphasized how this was not the “first time” that they were surveilled by a Democrat-led administration, calling back to the Obama administration‘s alleged surveillance of Trump and his allies.
“This isn’t the first time that it’s happened,” Hagerty fumed:
Johnson concurred, saying, “This doesn’t surprise me.”
Blackburn called the alleged spying “an abomination”:
“I will not let it stand,” she added in an X post.
Tuberville immediately jumped on Steve Bannon’s War Room to discuss the document after he was briefed, saying, “It’s going to be a big deal … I would’ve always thought it would’ve been North Korea, or China, or Russia, not our own government. And Joe Biden was tapping the phones through the FBI of senators in this country. That’s a damn shame.”
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) in August opened an investigation into Smith, who may have unlawfully targeted Trump, Breitbart News reported.
Announcing that “Americans will finally learn the truth” about shady actions taken by senior officials in former President Barack Obama’s National Security Council (NSC), Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard released damning documents that showed how they laid the groundwork for “what was essentially a years-long coup” against Trump:
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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