Grassley Claims Jack Smith Reviewed 44 Lawmakers’ Private Texts

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has alleged that former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigative team reviewed text messages involving 44 members of Congress during criminal investigations related to Donald Trump, escalating Republican criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the high-profile probes.

Grassley, joined by Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson, released documents on Tuesday that they say were obtained from the Department of Justice (DOJ) following whistleblower disclosures. According to the lawmakers, the records indicate that investigators accessed communications between members of Congress and White House officials during investigations into the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack and classified documents recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Republicans Question DOJ Investigative Procedures

Chuck Grassley said he was among the lawmakers whose communications were reviewed, arguing that investigators appeared to have gone beyond the intended scope of the inquiries.

In a statement, the Iowa Republican claimed the investigations lacked sufficient safeguards and alleged that DOJ and FBI officials failed to follow established investigative protocols when examining congressional communications. According to Grassley, Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis informed him that Smith’s investigative team “apparently bypassed” a document filtering process and directly accessed the text messages in question.

Chuck Grassley described the investigations as overly aggressive and said Congress must examine whether constitutional protections afforded to lawmakers were adequately respected.

I received records frm DOJ confirming Jack Smith’s investigative team reviewed the contents of text msgs sent by 44 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Im 1 of the 44

Im alerting my colleagues who were impacted and will release the records w Sen Johnson so American ppl can see the evidence

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 14, 2026

Bipartisan List of Lawmakers

The report released by Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson states that communications from 44 current and former lawmakers—both Republicans and Democrats- were included among the records reviewed during the investigations.

The lawmakers did not allege that members of Congress were targets of the criminal investigations. Instead, they argued that messages involving White House officials were swept into the evidence collected through subpoenas for presidential records.

Johnson called the disclosures another example of what Republicans have repeatedly described as the “weaponization” of federal law enforcement during the Biden administration.

Several Republican lawmakers reacted strongly following the release of the documents. Florida Senator Rick Scott, whose communications were reportedly included in the records, called the revelations “outrageous,” accusing investigators of conducting an overly broad inquiry.

Speech or Debate Clause Questions

Chuck Grassley has also suggested that reviewing lawmakers’ communications could raise constitutional issues under the Speech or Debate Clause, which protects legislative activity from executive branch interference.

The clause, included in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, is designed to preserve congressional independence by limiting executive intrusion into legislative functions.

Legal experts have long distinguished the protection from executive privilege, which applies to presidential communications. Whether the reviewed text messages fall within constitutional protections would likely depend on the nature and context of each communication.

The issue recalls earlier litigation involving Representative Scott Perry, whose phone was seized during the Trump election interference investigation. After lengthy court proceedings, prosecutors were ultimately permitted to review only messages deemed unrelated to protected legislative activity.

Trump Investigations Continue to Draw Scrutiny

Jack Smith led two major criminal investigations involving Trump: one concerning alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and another involving classified documents found after Trump left office.

Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, Smith moved to dismiss both federal criminal cases, citing longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Since returning to office, Trump and Republican lawmakers have intensified oversight efforts aimed at reviewing the DOJ’s handling of those investigations.

Grassley said the Senate Judiciary Committee intends to continue examining the investigative process and suggested Smith could be called to testify before the committee in the future.

DOJ Yet to Comment Further

Neither Jack Smith nor his representatives immediately responded publicly to the latest allegations.

While the newly released documents have intensified political debate, they do not by themselves establish that lawmakers were investigation targets. Instead, they highlight ongoing disputes over how evidence was collected and reviewed during some of the most consequential federal investigations involving a former and now current U.S. president.

The disclosures are expected to fuel additional congressional oversight as Republicans continue examining the Justice Department’s investigative practices during the Biden administration.