Jack Smith's devastating letter to Grassley about his purported revelation

[bigtree]

Roger Parloff @rparloff
Jack Smith's devastating letter to Grassley. Grassley's purported revelation—that Smith analyzed toll records of 8 US Senators—was disclosed in Smith's report, evident from the indictment, & produced to Trump's attys who are now top DOJ officials. Trump did same to Swalwell, Schiff & 43 staffers during Trump I.

Zoe Tillman @ZoeTillman
The Return of Jack Smith, pt. II: The former Trump prosecutor's lawyers offered the latest rebuttal to escalating attacks on his work -- this time re: a grand jury subpoena for lawmakers' phone activity records during the 2020 election probe
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-21/ex-trump-prosecutor-defends-subpoena-for-lawmaker-call-records?srnd=undefined

Letter: (pdf) https://t.co/yYiAq6zRfG

Dear Chairman Grassley: We write on behalf of our client, former Special Counsel Jack Smith, in response to concerns raised by you and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding certain investigative steps taken by the Special Counsel’s Office in its investigation of President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and his role in attempting to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. Although you have not reached out to us to discuss this matter, we are compelled to correct inaccurate assertions made by you and others concerning the issuance of a grand jury subpoena for the toll records of eight Senators and one Member of the House of Representatives. Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences. His investigative decisions were similarly motivated, and the subpoena for toll records was entirely proper, lawful, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy. While Mr. Smith’s prosecutions of President Trump have predictably been politicized by others, politics never influenced his decision making.

A number of people have falsely stated that Mr. Smith “tapped” Senators’ phones, “spied” on their communications, or “surveilled” their conversations. As you know, toll records merely contain telephonic routing information—collected after the calls have taken place— identifying incoming and outgoing call numbers, the time of the calls, and their duration. Toll records are historical in nature, and do not include the content of calls. Wiretapping, by contrast, involves intercepting the telecommunications in real time, which the Special Counsel’s Office did not do.

As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. The subpoena’s limited temporal range is consistent with a focused effort to confirm or refute reports by multiple news outlets that during and after the January 6 riots at the Capitol, President Trump and his surrogates attempted to call Senators to urge them to delay

[stopdiggin]

1. that's the way it's done ! This how you call 'horsesh*t' (on the part of a sitting US senator)

without actually invoking anything equine.

[ancianita]

2. Grassley stupidly swallowed Josh Hawley's, Kashyap Patel's and Fox News Digital's made up shit.

The letter noted that the public indictment of Mr. Trump specifically describes some of the calls made to senators. “Moreover, the precise records at issue were produced in discovery to President Trump’s personal lawyers, some of whom now serve in senior positions within the Department of Justice.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/us/politics/jack-smith-phone-records-republicans.html

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. And *thats* why Bondi hasn't sought indictments against Smith or Garland

Discovery would bring down the whole house of cards.

[rubbersole]

4. The misfits that now run the DOJ must occasionally think about self preservation.

Professionally they're in the shallow end of the kiddie pool.

[mercuryblues]

11. More like

they are in a blow up kiddie pool, with a small, slow air leak.

[reACTIONary]

5. A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma....

Director Patel asserts "that Mr. Smith put the toll records in a 'lockbox in a vault, and then put that vault in a cyber place where no one can see or search these files.' It is not clear what cyber place in a vault in a lockbox Director Patel is describing"

What the hell is a vault I'm a lockbox in a cyber place???? Are these hoppers that stupid, or do thy just talk like they are stupid in order to impress their followers?

[live love laugh]

10. They are not stupid they just count on stupid people believing their lies.

[John1956PA]

6. The PEN Register Act on 1986 allows L.E. to ascertain phone numbers called from a given phone.

Law Enforcement must obtain a warrant to do so.

I think Special Prosecutor Smith obtained a warrant from a court to permit him to determine phone numbers which certain members of Congress placed from their phones during a select period of days surrounding J6. Such a warrant falls under the Pen Register Act of 1986.

Special Prosecutor Smith did not apply for any warrant to listen in on ("wiretap" ) any telephone calls. Grassley suggested that Smith had indeed listened in, which, of course, is a lie by Grassley.

[tazcat]

7. Anybody wonder what the secret service wiped on J6???

Old man Grassley was in on it too. Hmmm, 8 senators...

[Zackzzzz]

9. I remember Grassley said on Jan. 5th,

"If the VP isn't there, and we don't expect him to be there,
I will be presiding over the Senate".

We don't expect him to be there??

[themaguffin]

8. It's great to see Smith speak out.