Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over secret phone records seizure

Clear Facts

• Senator Marsha Blackburn filed a federal lawsuit against Jack Smith in his personal capacity over the secret subpoena of her phone toll records during the Arctic Frost investigation.
• Blackburn argues Smith lacked lawful authority as special counsel and violated her constitutional rights by obtaining records without proper notification or judicial disclosure.
• The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, demands destruction of the records, and requests $1 in nominal damages.

Senator Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, filed suit against former special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday, claiming he had no constitutional authority to act in the role and that his office improperly seized her phone records.

The complaint alleges Smith obtained toll records from Verizon through a grand jury subpoena in May 2023 while a nondisclosure order prevented the company from notifying the senator.

Blackburn is represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which argues that Smith was never lawfully appointed under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

“This lawsuit is solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable and ensuring that our nation’s justice system can never again be weaponized against the American people,” Blackburn told Fox News Digital.

The senator described the Arctic Frost probe as a politically motivated operation that targeted conservatives and the president.

“Through his Arctic Frost witch-hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the president of the United States, Jack Smith perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation’s history,” Blackburn said.

Senate Judiciary Committee records show Smith’s team issued 197 subpoenas involving at least 430 Republican individuals and entities.

The lawsuit also challenges the nondisclosure order that prevented Blackburn from asserting her rights under the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution.

“Jack Smith was illegally named Special Counsel in November of 2022, with Attorney General Merrick Garland handing a private citizen the sweeping powers of a special counsel,” the New Civil Liberties Alliance stated.

NCLA counsel L. Margaret Harker emphasized that the suit aims to enforce constitutional limits on federal power.

“This lawsuit is not only about the faux authority granted to Smith through an unconstitutional appointment. It is also about ensuring that the Department of Justice—the very body responsible for enforcing federal law on behalf of our nation—acts only within its constitutional bounds,” Harker said.

The complaint asks the court to declare Smith’s appointment unlawful, order the destruction of the seized records, and award nominal damages.

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