Former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith spied on messages belonging to 44 members of Congress, according to new documents released on Tuesday, contrary to testimony he previously delivered under oath.
The Justice Department disclosed the bombshell revelation in a letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), saying that Smith's team seized communication that included text messages between members of Congress and White House staffers who served during President Donald Trump's first term in office.
The list included 20 members of the Senate, including 19 Republicans who ranged from the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) to Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Susan Collins (Me.), as well as 20 House Republicans.
Four Democrats were also ensnared in the investigation — including Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Reps. Joshua Gottheimer (N.J.), Karen Bass (Calif.), and Adam Smith (Wash.).
According to the department, the full list included:
1. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
2. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
3. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
4. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
5. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
6. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah)
7. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
8. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.)
9. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
10. Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.)
11. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)
12. Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.)
13. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
14. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)
15. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
16. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
17. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)
18. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
19. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
20. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.)
21. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
22. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.)
23. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
24. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.)
25. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.)
26. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.)
27. Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.)
28. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.)
29. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)
30. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.)
31. Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.)
32. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)
33. Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.)
34. Rep. Joshua Gottheimer (D-N.J.)
35. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.)
36. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.)
37. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.)
38. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.)
39. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.)
40. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.)
41. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.)
42. Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho)
43. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.)
44. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)
The department said that Smith's office had been informed that records related to communication by members of Congress “could raise constitutional concerns and might be privileged” but still opted to move forward with mass surveillance.
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as independent special counsel in 2022 to file charges stemming from the FBI’s years-long crusade to overturn the 2016 election and hurt Trump — in this case tied to electors in the 2020 election.
A court ruled in 2024 that Smith’s appointment had been illegal, though he refused to vacate the position until 2025 — months after Trump had won the presidential election by more votes than any Republican in American history.
Tuesday's revelation comes less than a year after Smith denied in sworn testimony to the House Judiciary Committee that he had surveilled lawmakers. Asked if the toll records of phone calls and text messages — displaying metadata like time stamps — that he obtained had come with the content of messages, Smith tersely replied, “No.”
2day I released msgs showing Biden DOJ personnel incl ppl assigned to Jack Smith's Special Counsel Office potentially mishandled CLASSIFIED MATERIAL while Smith ws prosecuting Pres Trump 4that very offense
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 8, 2026
Msgs indicate HYPOCRITICAL+CARELESS BEHAVIOR &merit further investigation
Looks like perjury https://t.co/WzUTnqGati
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 14, 2026
In the latest disclosure, the Justice Department said Thomas Windom — a member of Smith's team — sought "all text messages" from phones “associated with a long list of White House personnel" between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 202, and he obtained “54 spreadsheets containing the requested White House custodians' text messages” in response.
The department said toll records for “several” members of Congress were targeted “on the belief that they had communicated with President Trump or Rudy Giuliani.”
Hawley said in a statement on X that Smith’s previous statement looked like “perjury” in light of the new information, while Grassley said the messages sent by members of Smith's team indicated "HYPOCRITICAL+CARELESS BEHAVIOR and merit further investigation."
Remember the days when anti-Trump activists at the FBI would round up Trump voters and march them to prison — live on CNN — on charges that the FBI didn't agree with one of their political opinions, making anything they said "perjury? Roger Stone and Michael Flynn surely do.
What should Republicans in Congress and Republican-appointed staffers at the Justice Department do with that information? We'll have to give them some time to ruminate on it, but hopefully they'll draw some incisive conclusions.
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