Jack Smith sought phone records of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in J6 probe

As part of the investigation into the events of January 6, former special counsel Jack Smith reportedly sought to obtain the personal cellphone records of then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as well as former Rep. Louie Gohmert.

According to FBI documents obtained by Fox News, on January 24, 2023, Smith sought the "toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon)." The information was part of a "Significant Case Notification" from the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, dated May 25, 2023.

McCarthy told Fox News, "Jack Smith's radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth. It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House."

He added, "His illegal targeting demands real accountability. And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith's own abuses. At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else."

The revelation came after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson sought answers from major telephone providers in the US, with AT&T telling Grassley that Smith had sought phone records for two members of Congress. The company told Grassley that one of the two was Senator Ted Cruz, but had not revealed the second member, which the declassified FBI document showed was McCarthy. 

AT&T told Grassley that Smith had sent them a grand jury subpoena for the phone records of two members of Congress. "However, when AT&T raised questions with Special Counsel Smith’s office concerning the legal basis for seeking records of members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not pursue the subpoena further, and no records were produced."

The company also said that it "has not produced any records or other information to Special Counsel Jack Smith" relating to "any member of Congress."

This comes after it was revealed that the FBI conducted surveillance on Republican lawmakers during the Arctic Frost probe. The FBI document, dated September 27, 2023, lists agents conducting “preliminary toll analysis” on the phone records of GOP lawmakers Mike Kelly, Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, and Marsha Blackburn. Nearly 100 Republican groups and individuals were also targeted during the probe, including Turning Point USA. 

Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track GOP lawmakers’ phone records "entirely proper," with Smith’s lawyers writing in October, "As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the US Capitol."