The personal cellphone records of then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., were allegedly sought as part of former Special Counsel Jack Smith's "Arctic Frost" probe. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the "toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)"
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records "entirely proper" and consistent with Department of Justice policy. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers.
Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records "entirely proper" and consistent with Justice Department policy.
"As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol," Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley.
Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter, and seeking answers from major telephone providers.
In AT&T’s response to Grassley, it noted that Smith sought phone records for two members of Congress.
Fox News Digital has learned that AT&T informed Grassley’s staff that one of the members was Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but refused to disclose the second member.
The newly declassified document reviewed by Fox News Digital appears to reveal that the second member of Congress that Smith sought records from AT&T for was McCarthy, R-Calif.
Fox News Digital obtained AT&T’s response to Grassley, in which the company notes that Smith sent them a grand jury subpoena that included a request for phone records associated with two members of Congress.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., arrives for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Thursday, April 3, 2025 (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"Arctic Frost" was opened inside the bureau April 13, 2022. Smith was appointed as special counsel to take over the probe in November 2022.
GOP SENATOR DEMANDS FBI REVEAL IF SURVEILLANCE WENT BEYOND JACK SMITH’S PHONE TRACKING
An FBI official told Fox News Digital that "Arctic Frost" is a "prohibited case," and that the review required FBI officials to go "above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency." The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.
Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Smith's case cost taxpayers more than $50 million.
Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jack-smith-targeted-then-house-speaker-mccarthys-private-phone-records-j6-probe-fbi-docs-reveal