GOP senator sues Jack Smith after secret phone seizure, challenges his power to investigate Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sued former special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday, September 30, one day after his contentious Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, turning a dispute over secretly obtained congressional phone records into a federal court case.

Blackburn’s complaint challenges Smith’s authority as special counsel and alleges his team unlawfully obtained her Verizon toll records during the Arctic Frost investigation into efforts to influence lawmakers after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. 

The lawsuit, filed through the New Civil Liberties Alliance, names Smith in his personal capacity and asks a court to declare his appointment unconstitutional, return and destroy Blackburn’s records and award $1 in nominal damages.

The complaint argues that Smith exercised powers without the constitutional and statutory authorization required for his position.

Blackburn challenges Smith’s authority

Blackburn’s lawsuit goes beyond collecting her phone records.

It argues that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland lacked authority to give Smith special counsel powers because Smith was neither nominated by the president nor confirmed by the Senate.

The complaint also challenges the circumstances surrounding a May 2023 grand-jury subpoena for Blackburn’s Verizon toll records. 

According to the lawsuit, the records showed numbers contacted, dates, times and call durations rather than the contents of conversations.

A nondisclosure order prevented Verizon from informing Blackburn that her records had been obtained.

Her attorneys argue that secrecy deprived a sitting senator of an opportunity to invoke protections under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

Senate probe exposed broader records sweep

The lawsuit follows months of Republican-led Senate scrutiny into Arctic Frost, the investigation that preceded Smith’s prosecution of Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The Senate Judiciary Committee says Smith’s team issued at least 197 subpoenas involving 34 individuals and 163 businesses, with records connected to more than 430 Republican individuals and organizations.

The committee has separately said investigators obtained communications involving 44 members of Congress. 

Those figures come from Republican-led congressional oversight, while Smith has defended the subpoenas as part of a legitimate investigation.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Smith acknowledged that his team obtained records involving lawmakers.

He maintained that the investigation was conducted without regard to political affiliation and said subpoenas were tied to evidence concerning efforts to influence senators following the Capitol attack.

Blackburn’s case now places those competing accounts before a federal court rather than only a congressional committee.

Lawsuit puts constitutional claims forward

The case asks the judiciary to determine whether Smith’s appointment complied with the Constitution and whether the collection of Blackburn’s records violated her rights.

Smith has defended the broader investigations, telling senators that his work produced evidence he believed established Trump had committed serious crimes.

His two federal cases against Trump were later dismissed after Trump returned to office.