Justice Department Obtained Filtered Text Messages of 44 Lawmakers in Trump-Era Probe

Justice Department records released July 14 show that former special counsel Jack Smith's investigative team obtained and filtered text messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress during the Arctic Frost probe. The communications involved mostly Republicans and a handful of Democrats, including Sens.

Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson, Cory Booker, the late Lindsey Graham, and Josh Hawley, along with Reps.

Jim Jordan, Adam Smith, and Josh Gottheimer, and former Rep. Karen Bass, now mayor of Los Angeles. Grassley and Johnson obtained the records after whistleblower disclosures about the investigation and released them jointly.

Investigators acquired the messages from the National Archives and Records Administration. Smith's office had requested messages sent between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021, from phones associated with President Donald Trump and senior advisers including Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Ivanka Trump, Stephen Miller, Peter Navarro, John Ratcliffe, Kash Patel, Rudy Giuliani, Kellyanne Conway, and Mike Pence.

On Aug. 21, 2023, National Archives General Counsel Gary Stern informed senior prosecutor Thomas Windom that the agency had identified 54 spreadsheets containing the requested custodians' messages. Windom told colleagues the same day that he had already downloaded the production.

Written protocols stated that investigators could not access any material without a filter attorney's approval. On Dec. 17, 2025, Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee and denied that his team ever read the contents of text messages involving members of Congress.