Jack Smith Admits Judges Not Told of GOP Phone Seizures

Jack Smith admitted that judges were not told his team was seizing the phone records of Republican congressmen when asked to sign off on nondisclosure orders for associated subpoenas, according to a transcript of the ex-special counsel's deposition obtained by the New York Post on Wednesday.

Smith told members of the House Judiciary Committee in his testimony on Dec. 17 that keeping the subpoenas — which were part of the FBI's investigation into 2020 election interference — hidden was necessary to avoid a "grave risk of obstruction of justice."

Asked by a Judiciary Committee member whether judges who approved the subpoenas knew they were demanding that AT&T and Verizon hand over the call logs of lawmakers, Smith said, "I don't think we identified that, because I don't think that was department policy at the time."

Judiciary members said Smith's team risked infringing on constitutional "speech or debate protections" for lawmakers — about a dozen of whom had their cellphone metadata taken.