WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith and his investigators obtained communications from reporters for more than a dozen media outlets and financial information from thousands of Americans as part of their “Arctic Frost” probe that resulted in the indictment of President Trump, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) claimed Tuesday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman’s office received whistleblower disclosures that revealed almost 50 journalists had their messages with government sources caught in Smith’s digital dragnet.
The outlets affected include Fox News, CNN, CBS News, NBC News, CNBC, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times and New York Magazine.
The Federalist, the Washington Times, the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, conservative radio host Mark Levin’s syndicated program, and the Media Research Center were also targeted.
Smith’s office issued a subpoena in June 2023 for text messages from the phones of officials who served in the first Trump administration, which swept up the communications of the journalists, according to Grassley.
At least 87 White House phone numbers were listed in the subpoena request, though it’s unclear what time period was covered.
In addition to journalists, Smith’s office also seized messages between Trump White House officials and 44 lawmakers from both parties between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021.
Grassley and other Republicans have alleged that Smith’s moves to obtain the communications may have run afoul of the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause — an allegation that Smith rejected in Tuesday’s hearing.
The ex-special counsel has previously testified he couldn’t “recall” whether he sought the content of text messages from lawmakers and wasn’t asked about reporter communications Tuesday.
Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had demanded the records from the National Archives in May after learning that Smith’s prosecutors received digital communications and had to put a so-called “filter” team in place to review which materials were legally privileged.
Other whistleblower disclosures made public by Grassley during Tuesday’s hearing showed that at least 4,782 checks written by Americans to fund Trump’s political campaigns between September 2019 and August 2023 were also obtained by Smith’s team.
The bank account numbers and home addresses of the Republican donors were all reviewed by the prosecutors.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Grassley claimed that Smith “undermined the rule of law and threatened our very political institutions” with his investigation into Trump that resulted in a four-count indictment for allegedly illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump,” Smith insisted during his opening statement. “I made these decisions without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs, or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election.”
