The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, has released documents showing that the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed his phone records in April 2022 during an investigation of President Trump’s first term in office.
Documents show that President Biden’s Justice Department secretly pulled the phone records of a long list of Republican lawmakers, advisers and members of Trump’s own family. We’re talking years of calls, texts, IP addresses, location data, all obtained in secret, with gag orders so that the phone companies couldn’t say a word.
My name is Susan Ferrechio, National Politics Correspondent for the Washington Times.
I’m going to walk you through what I found in my reporting, how this Arctic Frost investigation was run, who signed off on spying on sitting members of Congress and why Jim Jordan’s records were targeted for an entire year before the Arctic Frost investigation even began.
Lawmakers are pointing out that because the government can do this to people with real power in Washington, that Americans need to ask what the government can do to them.
What was uncovered about Rep. Jim Jordan and the Justice Department?
SEE ALSO: Biden-era phone spying list grows
Mr. Jordan, now chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released new documents showing that the Justice Department secretly subpoenaed his phone records in April of 2022 during its burgeoning Arctic Frost investigation of President Trump. The DOJ obtained a grand jury subpoena ordering Verizon to turn over Mr. Jordan’s phone records, including but not limited to records for inbound and outbound calls, text messages, direct connect communications, voicemail messages, addresses, as well as sources of payments, IP addresses, and location information.
What is Operation Arctic Frost and how is this related?
Arctic Frost investigated President Trump and his associates and allies for their actions contesting President Biden’s narrow swing state victories in the 2020 election. It was opened by the Biden Justice Department in 2022. Eventually, it was taken over by Jack Smith, who was then appointed as a special counsel. He later went on to indict President Trump for his actions following the 2020 election, and he was charged with election interference. Those charges are now set aside and the president is contesting them in court.
What did the subpoena require Verizon to provide about Jim Jordan’s communications?
The broad request sought Mr. Jordan’s phone records dating back to January 2020, a full year before the end of Mr. Trump’s first term and long before the divisive aftermath of the 2020 election that sparked the Biden administration’s Arctic Frost probe. Verizon was ordered not to inform Mr. Jordan of the Justice Department subpoena.
Why did the subpoena demand records starting a full year before the Capitol riot?
Nobody knows why. At the time, Mr. Jordan was the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee and then moved to the top GOP position on the House Judiciary Committee.
Why were lawmakers not allowed to know about this?
A grand jury issued a gag order to Verizon based on the argument that informing Mr. Jordan could lead him to destroy evidence or perhaps even threaten witnesses. For other lawmakers, that gag order was issued by a judge.
Who actually signed the subpoena for Jordan’s records?
The subpoena seeking his phone records dated April 29th, 2022, is signed by Kenneth Polite, who was Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division and another attorney in the criminal division, Timothy Duree. Mr. Duree left the Justice Department in January, and Mr. Polite entered the private sector in 2023.
What role did Judge James Boasberg play in approving nondisclosure orders in this matter?
On November 20th, Mr. Jordan and two top senators sent a letter to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg who approved 19 of the nondisclosure orders that blocked phone companies from informing lawmakers of the government subpoenas of their data. They asked Judge Boasberg to answer a series of questions about his decision to sign off on the gag orders, including whether he was even aware that sitting members of Congress were the subjects of the subpoenas and that two of the phone numbers surveilled were issued by the Senate Sergeant at Arms. The lawmakers said it was absurd to suggest that a non-disclosure order would be required for sitting senators who had been accused of no crime out of fear that they would destroy evidence, intimidate witnesses, and otherwise damage the investigation. The letter was signed by Mr. Jordan and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, as well as Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the permanent subcommittee on investigations.
What forms of oversight or reform are now being discussed to prevent similar surveillance of lawmakers in the future?
Senators said the subpoenas were unlawful. Senator Rick Scott of Florida, whose phone records were also surveilled, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking her to unseal the application for the gag orders, which would disclose the Justice Department’s reasoning for keeping the subpoenas hidden from the lawmakers. Mr. Scott said that Jack Smith and the Biden Justice Department spied on their political opponents, violated the Constitution, and weaponized the justice system to target members of Congress, all in an effort to go after President Trump.
Watch the video for the full conversation.
Read more: Biden-era phone spying list grows
Read more from Susan Ferrechio
