Senate Judiciary Committee Releases Documents on DOJ Access to Lawmakers' Texts in Jack Smith Probes

The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday released documents showing the Department of Justice collected text messages between 44 members of Congress and White House staff during former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations into the Jan.

6 Capitol breach and President Donald Trump's storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Fox News reported that contractors managing document review software for a DOJ filter team failed to set up proper permission guardrails, allowing Smith's investigative team to examine unscreened communications.

The department sent a letter detailing the failure to Sen. Chuck Grassley. Sen. , told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Republicans are rightly concerned about possible breach of norms and improper access to email.

"I think we need to have more facts. Look into it," he said. Sen. , told Fox News Digital that Jack Smith is a political hack who never should have been near power. Multiple Republican lawmakers alleged that Smith perjured himself by answering "no" to a congressional lawyer's question about requesting text messages from lawmakers.

Sen. , whose messages were among those seized, declined to comment when approached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday, citing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing. Sens. Adam Schiff, Mazie Hirono, Alex Padilla, and Patty Murray also declined to comment.

Sen. , told reporters he does not know whether Smith was misleading and has not followed the allegations closely. , on Dec. 17, 2025.