DOJ Records Show Jack Smith Team Accessed Messages Between Trump Officials And Dozens Of Lawmakers
Newly released Justice Department records show that former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigative team accessed text messages exchanged between Trump White House officials and 44 members of Congress from both political parties during its investigations into President Donald Trump.
The records, released to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson, indicate the messages involved communications sent between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021. Lawmakers whose messages were accessed included Republicans such as Chuck Grassley, Susan Collins, Tom Cotton, Steve Scalise, and Elise Stefanik, along with Democrats including Cory Booker, Adam Smith, and former Rep. Karen Bass.
The communications were obtained from the National Archives as part of the investigations into efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and the classified documents case. Internal Justice Department records show Smith’s office established a “Filter Team” that was supposed to screen potentially privileged material before investigators reviewed it.
According to a letter from Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis, however, Smith’s investigative team bypassed the Filter Team and directly accessed the text messages before the FBI identified which lawmakers had participated in the conversations. Internal DOJ emails also referenced investigators obtaining dozens of files containing text messages from White House phones and placing them into a shared drive.
The disclosure has prompted sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers. Grassley accused Smith’s office of ignoring established investigative safeguards and said the investigation “ran roughshod over the Constitution.” He also said he intends to bring Smith before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the investigation.
Sen. Ron Johnson called the revelations another example of what he described as the weaponization of the Justice Department and argued the records raise serious concerns about how Smith’s office conducted its investigations.
The newly released records also appear to conflict with testimony Smith gave during a December 2025 congressional deposition, when he answered “No” after being asked whether his team had looked at the contents of text messages during its investigations of President Trump.
Attorneys representing Jack Smith did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the newly released documents.