Newly released Justice Department records indicate that former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigative team accessed text messages between Trump White House officials and 44 current and former members of Congress, the Senate GOP packet says. The materials, turned over to congressional overseers Wednesday, show the files were reviewed almost immediately after the National Archives delivered them in August 2023. The disclosure has already triggered Republican demands for answers and revived questions about whether lawmakers’ communications were swept into a criminal investigation.
Senate Republicans publish the packet
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson released a packet that, they say, includes a DOJ cover letter and records showing the Special Counsel’s Investigative Team "directly accessed" message content and bypassed a Filter Team intended to screen privileged material. According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley said investigators "ran roughshod over the Constitution" and that he will press for answers.
How the texts were handled
A DOJ summary posted on Sen. Grassley’s site says the Special Counsel’s Office subpoenaed the National Archives for text messages in June 2023 and that NARA provided the files on Aug. 21, 2023. The letter says one of Smith’s senior lawyers downloaded the archive within roughly 30 minutes, and other team members began reviewing it within about an hour. The DOJ cover letter to the committee, as posted by Grassley, says the review appears to have proceeded "without waiting" for the Filter Team to segregate potentially privileged materials.
Who was swept up
The packet names 44 senators and representatives whose messages were accessed, including Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham and Josh Hawley, along with House figures such as Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Elise Stefanik. The Washington Examiner and the committee materials show the list crosses party lines, a fact GOP lawmakers say widens the scope of concern.
Smith’s deposition and the technical gap
In a Dec. 17, 2025 deposition with the House Judiciary Committee, Smith said the "toll" or routing records his team subpoenaed did not include the content of calls or text messages, and he answered "No" when asked whether those records contained message content. The House Judiciary Committee transcript records the exchange and highlights a technical difference between non‑content metadata and the full message text the committee’s packet says was later delivered by NARA.
Legal questions and constitutional concerns
The Senate release points to the Speech or Debate Clause and other privileges that can shield lawmakers’ official communications from prosecution, and it warns that bypassing a filter designed to protect that material risks chilling legislative activity. The Senate Judiciary Committee argues those protections matter; DOJ’s cover letter lays out the filter process the department says it used, leaving open a legal fight over what investigators actually read and whether any privileged content was retained or used.
What comes next
Grassley and Johnson say they will push for additional records and answers and have signaled plans to press DOJ officials. Lawmakers from both parties are watching for the department’s follow-up. MyFox28 Columbus and other outlets report that the disclosures are likely to feed into upcoming oversight hearings and fresh demands for transparency.
