More than 40 members of Congress had their text messages viewed by former special counsel Jack Smith’s team amid a probe into President Trump, a move that Republicans say “ran roughshod over the Constitution.”
The Department of Justice released records to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday revealing that the special counsel’s office had accessed communications between Trump White House personnel and 44 lawmakers from both parties.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ); Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the current ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee; current Los Angeles mayor and former Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.); and former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), now the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, were just some of the new names whose messages were seen.
Grassley himself, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), House Majority Leader Steve Scalies (R-La.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) were also targeted.
Asked during a December 2025 congressional deposition whether his team looked at “the content of text messages” during his twin probes into the 45th and 47th president, Smith answered, “No.”
Hellbound and Down 