Republicans’ probe into bogus allegations of anti-conservative “spying” during the Biden administration advanced Tuesday as House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is demanding answers from phone companies Verizon and AT&T.
The allegations center on former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Donald Trump and his allies’ attempt to unlawfully overturn his 2020 election loss. Specifically, the claims concern Smith’s choice to subpoena some Republicans’ phone toll records — data that crucially does not include the actual substance of any conversations. My colleague Steve Benen wrote an excellent explainer last month about how the claims have already unraveled, both because there’s no evidence Smith or his team did snoop on those conversations and because the idea of Republican lawmakers’ communications coming up in an investigation into a Republican president’s attempts to overturn his election loss is hardly a stretch in the first place. Smith has denied allegations of spying and seems quite eager to testify about all of this in a public hearing.
And yet the effort to scrape together something to prop up the conspiracy theory continues apace.
Jordan sent letters to executives at Verizon and AT&T on Tuesday in which he claims that by complying with Smith’s subpoenas and with a gag order from federal Judge James Boasberg that barred them from notifying lawmakers that their toll records had been acquired, the companies “raise concerns about potential statutory and constitutional violations, including violations of the Speech or Debate clause.”
Jordan’s letter demands documents from both companies related to Smith’s subpoenas, any other documents concerning the DOJ’s subpoenas and requests for information related to the Jan. 6 investigation, and any documents that outline employees’ conversations with Smith’s office. Given abundant examples of Republicans targeting anyone who has played a role in holding Jan. 6 insurrectionists accountable, this obvious fishing expedition seems designed to relitigate the events of that day and portray as victims the members of the pro-insurrectionist party.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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