Former special counsel Jack Smith’s team looked at text messages sent by dozens of congressional lawmakers as part of an investigation into President Donald Trump, according to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Ohio), who on Tuesday accused the team of having flouted Justice Department protocols.
In a post on X, Grassley said his office obtained records from the Department of Justice (DOJ) finding that Smith’s team reviewed the contents of text messages that were sent by 44 members of Congress. Grassley added that he is one of the 44 members who were apparently surveilled.
Smith and his team later unsuccessfully prosecuted Trump in Florida for allegedly illegally retaining classified documents after he left the presidency, and in Washington, D.C., for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump has long denied the charges and said that Smith was waging a partisan effort against his 2024 reelection campaign.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Grassley chairs, released a statement on July 14 that Smith’s “investigators bypassed a required Filter Team review process, violating investigative protocols and potentially infringing on constitutional guardrails.” A filter team is a term used for DOJ prosecutors who screen seized materials to protect attorney-client privilege.
The team had read text messages sent by both Democratic and Republican senators along with members of the House of Representatives during Trump’s first presidential term, the committee said, and that also included the lawmakers’ communications with Trump administration officials.
“This is yet another grotesque example of the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Justice Department,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said in a statement. “At this point, no one should be shocked by Jack Smith’s recklessness and blatant abuse of power, but they should be outraged.”
A document uploaded by Grassley’s office on July 14 included a screenshot of emails sent by Smith’s team in which they had discussed receiving texts from “White House phones.” An internal DOJ email dated Aug. 21, 2023, showed Smith’s team talking about obtaining “54 excel files with text messages from White House phones.”
Trump administration personnel whose messages were accessed included former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, current White House aide Stephen Miller, current White House adviser Peter Navarro, current CIA Director John Ratcliffe, current FBI Director Kash Patel, former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, the committee said.
The committee added that Smith’s team accessed text messages from Johnson, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), as well as Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Corey Booker (D-N.J.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and other members of the upper chamber.
Smith’s team also accessed texts sent by Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and other House members.
Meanwhile, texts sent by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), former House lawmaker and current Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, and former House lawmaker and current Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin were also seen by the special counsel team, according to the Judiciary Committee.
When questioned about his activities during a December 2025 congressional deposition on whether his team looked at “the content of text messages” sent by lawmakers, Smith said, “No,” according to a transcript released by the House Judiciary Committee.
Earlier this month, Grassley said that Smith’s team left some classified materials unsecured and also handed over the materials to at least one person without determining whether that person needed to see them.
“We wanted to conduct a thorough investigation of the matters that [were] assigned to me, including attempts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power,” Smith told lawmakers when asked about the decision.
Grassley’s office did not immediately respond to an Epoch Times request for comment on Tuesday. A lawyer for Smith also did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday by publication time.
