Jack Smith's team obtained text messages from 44 members of Congress during Trump investigation, Grassley reveals

Jul 14, 2026

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson revealed that former special counsel Jack Smith's team obtained and reviewed text messages from 44 members of Congress. Department of Justice records indicate investigators bypassed an internal filter team to directly access communications between lawmakers and Trump administration officials. Republican lawmakers have condemned the actions as a constitutional abuse of power, while Grassley plans to summon Smith to testify.

Congressional text message access

▪Former special counsel Jack Smith's investigative team obtained and reviewed text messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress during federal investigations into Donald Trump.
▪The accessed communications included text messages exchanged between 40 Republican and 4 Democratic lawmakers and senior Trump administration officials from October 2020 through January 2021.
▪The National Archives and Records Administration provided the text messages to Jack Smith's team on August 21, 2023, following a June 2023 subpoena.

Filter Team protocol bypass

▪Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis informed lawmakers in a letter that Jack Smith's investigative team bypassed a Department of Justice document filtering team to directly access the text messages.
▪Jack Smith's team began reviewing the text messages within 90 minutes of receiving them from the National Archives, without waiting for the Filter Team to evaluate and segregate privileged information.
▪During a December 2025 congressional deposition, Jack Smith answered "No" when asked if his team looked at the content of text messages during his two probes into Donald Trump.

Speech or Debate Clause

▪The Senate Judiciary Committee stated that bypassing the Filter Team evades consideration of privileges, including protections under the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause for official legislative duties.
▪Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator Ron Johnson released the Department of Justice records jointly following whistleblower tips and congressional oversight requests.

Congressional accountability demands

▪Republican Senators Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mike Lee, and Rick Scott publicly criticized Jack Smith, accusing his team of abuse of power and surveillance.
▪Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley pledged to summon Jack Smith before the committee in the coming months to hold him accountable.

Special counsel subpoena scope

▪The June 2023 subpoena to the National Archives sought text messages from phones associated with White House personnel, including Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, and Mike Pence.
▪Jack Smith previously informed lawmakers that obtaining congressional phone records was a necessary step in investigating Donald Trump's campaign to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.