Jack Smith Probe Swept Up Journalist Communications With White House Officials
Senate Judiciary Committee disclosures reveal that former Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigators obtained records containing communications between nearly 50 journalists and Trump administration officials, expanding the Arctic Frost probe beyond lawmakers ahead of a Tuesday hearing.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigators obtained records containing communications between nearly 50 journalists and Trump administration officials after subpoenaing text messages from dozens of White House phones during the federal election investigation of President Donald Trump, according to congressional disclosures made ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
The records were produced by the National Archives in response to a June 2, 2023 subpoena seeking material associated with 87 White House phones from Trump's first administration. The Archives produced responsive records on Aug. 21, 2023, according to documents previously disclosed through congressional oversight by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., as part of the Arctic Frost investigation.
Previous congressional disclosures showed investigators obtained records involving members of Congress. The latest records reveal the production also included communications between government officials and journalists working for some of the country's largest news organizations, including Fox News, CNN, CBS News and its newsmagazine «60 Minutes,» NBC News and CNBC. The records also include communications involving journalists from the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Reuters, the Associated Press and NPR, as well as The Federalist and Washington Times. The nationally syndicated «Mark Levin Show,» hosted by Fox News host and former Reagan Justice Department chief of staff Mark Levin, also appears in the records.
Grassley challenged the scope of the probe in comments Tuesday, saying, «What will the partisan media say about this disgraceful government overreach? This wasn't a normal prosecution by any means.» Critics have highlighted the lack of concern or coverage given to Smith's probe by legacy media.
The Media Research Center was identified Tuesday as another organization swept up in the probe. Its president, David Bozell, announced in 2025 that «not one single broadcast network aired one solitary second» about Smith's alleged spying on conservative organizations and senators following a tranche of public disclosures.
The committee has identified the individual journalists whose communications appear in the records but does not plan to release their names because of privacy concerns, a Grassley spokesperson said.
Grassley and Johnson pressed the Justice Department and FBI in May for information about how potentially privileged material in that production was screened before investigators could review it. An Aug. 21, 2023 email from assistant special counsel Thomas Windom instructed members of Smith's team, including prosecutors and FBI personnel, to download documents associated with text messages from the White House phones.
«We are writing to determine what procedures and protocols, if any, Smith and his team used to filter privileged or potentially privileged materials from being impermissibly accessed, reviewed and/or used,» Grassley and Johnson wrote. The senators requested DOJ's filtering protocols and the names of officials assigned to review material for privilege before it reached investigators.
The disclosure broadens questions surrounding Smith's handling of the White House records ahead of Tuesday's Senate hearing, including what safeguards governed investigators' access to communications involving lawmakers, journalists and other third parties. The Judiciary Committee is expected to examine Smith's investigative practices and the broader scope of Arctic Frost.
Fox News Digital is reaching out to counsel for Smith as well as the Justice Department for comment.
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