Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he has information indicating that former special counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained and reviewed lawmakers’ text messages as part of the government’s probe into President Donald Trump. Grassley said Tuesday that he received notice from the Justice Department stating that Smith’s team “secretly obtained” text messages from lawmakers. Grassley also said he has records supporting his claim and that the notice covers 44 lawmakers whose communications were reviewed. The allegations relate to how text-message records were obtained and handled during the investigation, according to Grassley’s account.
The Justice Department notice referenced by Grassley is presented as the basis for his assertion that lawmakers’ communications were accessed without their knowledge. Grassley has framed the matter as a concern about the process used to obtain and examine communications during the investigation. The available reports focus on Grassley’s statements and his claim that documentary records exist, rather than providing additional details about the investigation’s scope or the legal rationale for obtaining the messages.
