{"id":2629765,"date":"2026-07-14T18:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-democrat-special-counsel-jack-smith-spied-on-lied-to-congress\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:04:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:04:02","slug":"docs-democrat-special-counsel-jack-smith-spied-on-lied-to-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-democrat-special-counsel-jack-smith-spied-on-lied-to-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Docs: Special Counsel Jack Smith Lied To, Spied On Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdocs-democrat-special-counsel-jack-smith-spied-on-lied-to-congress%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2629765&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Recent revelations from congressional investigations, including newly released documents, expose meaningful misconduct by Special Counsel Jack smith.These documents indicate that Smith surreptitiously spied on Congress, misrepresented his access to lawmakers&#8217; communications, and ignored procedural safeguards designed to protect privileged and constitutional rights. Notably, Smith\u2019s team reportedly obtained and reviewed the private communications of lawmakers-including members of Congress-without proper authorization, violating the separation of powers and the constitutional &#8220;speech and debate&#8221; clause. The investigation, codenamed &#8220;Arctic Frost,&#8221; involved extensive collection and review of millions of documents, with some filtering processes allegedly bypassed or improperly conducted, leading to concerns about illegal search and seizure practices. Furthermore, the DOJ&#8217;s actions are characterized as authoritarian overreach, with parallels drawn to totalitarian states, due to their suppression and manipulation of information and targeting of political opponents. Despite these serious allegations, accountability remains elusive, with calls for prosecuting Smith for perjury and firing involved officials. The expos\u00e9 underscores ongoing issues of government overreach, misuse of spy agencies, and the need for congressional action to curb abuse of power within federal institutions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Public <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/arctic_frost_filter_review_released_by_grassley_and_johnson.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">documents <\/a>newly released by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson show that Jack Smith spied on Congress as a special counsel, then lied to them about it. It\u2019s the latest in a congressional investigation Grassley <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/07\/docs-biden-fbi-spied-on-8-republican-senators-in-get-trump-probe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">says <\/a>has already uncovered criminal abuse of power by Democrats that is far \u201cworse than Watergate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the Biden Department of Justice\u2019s investigation of Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20250207144626\/https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/opa\/pr\/appointment-special-counsel-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">under the pretext<\/a> of prosecuting Jan. 6, 2021, unrest and complaints about 2020 election lawbreaking, Smith\u2019s team ignored required procedures to view text messages written by 44 members of Congress. Yet Smith testified to Congress that he only had obtained \u201ctoll records,\u201d or data about the texts, such as timestamps and recipients, not the text content.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Jack Smith explicitly denied under oath during his House Judiciary deposition last December that he reviewed text messages from members of Congress:<\/p>\n<p>Q: &#8220;Did the records that you requested from the Member of Congress include the content of text messages?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Smith: &#8220;No.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XLb9lyFXSP\">https:\/\/t.co\/XLb9lyFXSP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jBDSAYYQzD\">pic.twitter.com\/jBDSAYYQzD<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u2014 Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/greg_price11\/status\/2077085954246844847?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Grassley and Johnson are among the lawmakers whose private communications were unconstitutionally obtained, say the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-denies-withholding-data-on-covid-deaths-and-hospitalizations\/\" title=\"CDC Denies Withholding Data on COVID Deaths and Hospitalizations\">newly released public records<\/a>. These are the latest revelations from the lawmakers\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/arctic-frost\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Arctic Frost investigation<\/a>, called such after the codename for Smith\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier disclosures from the investigation showed Smith illegally obtained Republican senators\u2019 communications data and was using his investigation as a pretext to harass out of existence <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/29\/docs-biden-fbi-subpoenaed-records-of-major-conservatives-gop-groups-as-part-of-get-trump-probe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the entire conservative movement<\/a>. He <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/11\/06\/if-arctic-frost-perpetrators-dont-go-to-jail-conservatives-will\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued <\/a>nearly 200 comprehensive subpoenas to more than 400 conservative individuals and organizations, all under a gag order that prevented them from telling anyone about this gross abuse of power.<\/p>\n<p>The new disclosures provide yet more evidence the Biden administration violated officeholders\u2019 oaths of office by abusing the separation of powers. The Constitution\u2019s \u201cspeech and debate\u201d clause protects members of Congress from criminal prosecution for speech in pursuit of their legislative duties. <\/p>\n<p>Congress and the executive are constitutionally separate and equal branches of government. An executive agent spying on members of a legislature not only violates the Constitution but is a hallmark of authoritarian states. It allows agencies to engage in blackmail and life-destroying lawfare through <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/12\/house-report-j6-committee-hid-troves-of-records-and-testimony-undermining-democrat-conspiracies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">selectively releasing bits<\/a> of distorted information illegitimately obtained about their targets.<\/p>\n<p>While engaging in authoritarian activities of the highest degree, the Biden administration and its media echo chamber insisted their victims were the real authoritarians. Projection at such scale is not only a mark of psychopathy, but also of totalitarianism.<\/p>\n<h2>Breach of Protocol and Highest Law in the Land<\/h2>\n<p>The new records indicate Smith\u2019s team ignored DOJ and longstanding judicial rules that require a \u201cfilter team\u201d to sift private records Smith obtained to protect \u201cprivileged\u201d documents, such as those protected by attorney-client privilege, or constitutionally banned from being seized by the executive or used as pretext for criminal prosecution. <\/p>\n<p>As part of the sweeping Smith prosecution, which <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/01\/06\/news\/doj-has-spent-more-than-23m-investigating-trump-6-4m-probing-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cost taxpayers<\/a> more than $23 million, the filter team <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/doj_to_grassley_-_arctic_frost_filter_team.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previewed <\/a>\u201cseveral million documents.\u201d The newly released documents give more detail about the massive scope of the special counsel effort to impose life-destroying legal and professional costs on those who worked with Trump. The filtering team included more than 50 publicly paid DOJ staffers, who worked on filtering for well more than an entire year and reviewed some 15 million documents, the records show.<\/p>\n<p>The records also show the DOJ staff were to code their work under \u201cnational security\/domestic terrorism,\u201d another way in which Democrats not only criminalized their opponents\u2019 constitutionally protected speech but prosecuted it under the most severe and non-transparent domain available in federal law.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Smith\u2019s Jan. 6 investigation was named \u201cProject Coconut,\u201d and his Trump documents investigation was named \u201cProject Cranberry,\u201d according to Grassley\u2019s office. More than 200 publicly paid staff across the FBI, DOJ, NARA (National Archives and Records Administration), and more agencies worked on Project Coconut alone, the documents show.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Yet Smith\u2019s team apparently sidelined the filtering to view the protected communications of lawmakers, the new records show. It happened when, in August 2023, the special counsel received the results of its subpoena to NARA for all text messages between October 2020 and Jan. 20, 2021, from phones of dozens of Republicans, including White House staff.<\/p>\n<p>The subpoena targeted phones of Trump, his son and daughter, Vice President Mike Pence, advisers Stephen Miller and Peter Navarro, now-CIA Director John Ratcliffe, now-FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and 44 lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 21, 2023, within a half hour of receiving the texts from NARA, \u201cone of Smith\u2019s senior lawyers, Thomas Windom, downloaded the texts and, within one hour, other members of Smith\u2019s investigative team downloaded and began reviewing the texts. It appears the review was done without waiting for the Filter Team to evaluate and segregate privileged information,\u201d says a press release from Grassley\u2019s office. <\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Filter] teams protect the integrity of a prosecution and preserve the constitutional rights of the parties involved,\u201d noted Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/doj_to_grassley_-_arctic_frost_filter_team.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in a letter<\/a> to Grassley released today with other public records documenting Smith\u2019s spying. \u201cFailure to adhere to sound filter team protocols can lead to the suppression of evidence or the disqualification of the prosecution team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Davis\u2019 letter notes Smith\u2019s team had been trained on this matter and thus knew this action was unconstitutional. That is demonstrated in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/arctic_frost_filter_review_released_by_grassley_and_johnson.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the documents release<\/a>, which shows filter team instructions and training clearly outlining the protocols Smith\u2019s team reportedly violated.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Four of the lawmakers violated this way were Democrats, says the letter, including Sen. Cory Booker and then-Rep. Adam Smith. The other 40 were Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins and Mike Lee and Reps. Jim Jordan, Devin Nunes, Elise Stefanik, and Kevin McCarthy.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats\u2019 authoritarian use of spy agencies to erase their opponents from the ballot has a long history, extending in recent years back to the Spygate operations President Barack Obama brought into the federal government from Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign in 2015. These operations, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/12\/house-report-j6-committee-hid-troves-of-records-and-testimony-undermining-democrat-conspiracies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrats\u2019 Jan. 6 Select Committee<\/a> and Spygate itself, have also included the destruction of evidence. The Federalist\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/04\/the-fbis-ability-to-disappear-evidence-calls-for-transparency-stat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Margot Cleveland disclosed<\/a> last June that the FBI maintained a secret records system that hid information from elected officials at the highest clearances, and used it to disappear evidence of spy agency malfeasance.<\/p>\n<p>That recent history indicates these gross abuses by Smith\u2019s team are just one part of a much larger body of evils. In other words, prepare for more revelations about this special counsel operation. <\/p>\n<p>The question remains: When will Congress do something serious about this besides pontificate on TV and in no-results hearings? Federal agencies <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2018\/05\/22\/james-clapper-just-lied-again-about-his-previous-lies-about-nsa-spying\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have already spied on<\/a> Congress <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2019\/06\/12\/hey-joe-biden-here-are-some-scandals-you-forgot-about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on other topics<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/11\/report-doj-corruptly-spied-on-congress-members-staff-and-media-in-4-year-inquiry-that-resulted-in-no-charges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gotten away with it<\/a>. This sheds light on why many Republican lawmakers are too fearful to fight to preserve the republic from becoming a leftist police state and instead protect these dangerous agencies. The most recent episode of this was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/02\/the-senate-gops-legacy-will-be-killing-accountability-for-dem-lawfare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GOP senators\u2019 shameful objections<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/02\/federal-judge-blocks-fund-to-compensate-victims-of-lawfare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a Democrat lawfare compensation fund.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nothing changes <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/11\/06\/if-arctic-frost-perpetrators-dont-go-to-jail-conservatives-will\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">if people aren\u2019t imprisoned<\/a> for these high crimes. The most obvious place to start in this case is prosecuting Smith for lying to Congress, and firing every federal employee who worked for him. If they can\u2019t be fired, assign them to the legal equivalent of Siberia. Make them work child p*rn cases or something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSmith\u2019s team ran roughshod over the Constitution even after repeated warnings,\u201d Grassley said in a statement. \u201cJack Smith has answering to do, and I intend to have him before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the coming months to hold him accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist and the researcher and host for The Federalist&#8217;s forthcoming lawfare podcast series, &#8220;Overruled.&#8221; Her latest book with Regnery is &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/false-colors-the-flag-of-our-occupation-joy-pullmann\/20707173?ean=9781684515875\">False Flag: Why Queer Politics Mean the End of America<\/a>.&#8221;  A happy wife and the mother of six children, her ebooks include the NEW &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/payhip.com\/b\/ZT5Wd\" target=\"_blank\">300 Classic Books for Ages 9 to Adult<\/a>,&#8221; and the bestselling &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/payhip.com\/b\/R1JL\">Classic Books For Young Children<\/a>.&#8221;      An 20-year education and politics reporter, Joy has testified before nearly two dozen legislatures on education policy and appeared on major media including Tucker Carlson, CNN, Fox News, OANN, NewsMax, Ben Shapiro, and Dennis Prager. Joy is a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs who identifies as native American and gender natural. Joy is also the cofounder of a high-performing Christian classical school and the author and coauthor of classical curricula.    Her traditionally published books also include &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Education-Invasion-Parents-Control-American\/dp\/1594038813\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1486730068&#038;sr=8-1&#038;keywords=education+invasion\">The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids<\/a>,&#8221; from Encounter Books.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senators reveal Jack Smith spied on Congress, lied, and abused power<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":519,"featured_media":2629766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/smith-testifies.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[44093,32690,32463,38118,32482],"class_list":["post-2629765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-congressional-investigation","tag-government-transparency","tag-jack-smith","tag-legal-controversy","tag-special-counsel"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/smith-testifies.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/519"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629765"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2629769,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629765\/revisions\/2629769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2629766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}