Jack Smith Subpoenaed Kash Patel Phone Records for More Than Two Years, Grassley Documents Show
Newly released documents from Sen. Chuck Grassley show that then–Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team secretly subpoenaed Verizon for more than two years’ worth of phone toll records for Kash Patel — now the FBI director — while investigating Donald Trump. The subpoenas, which Patel first alluded to publicly in February, sought his call records from October 2020 through February 2023 and were paired with one‑year court‑ordered gag orders barring Verizon from telling him. The records cover the tail end of Patel’s service in the first Trump administration and his subsequent role as a prominent pro‑Trump commentator at a time when he was also a known witness in the FBI’s classified‑documents probe, though it is unclear which Trump investigation the subpoenas were tied to. Grassley released the material ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the FBI’s 'Arctic Frost' investigation, where Republicans compared the Trump probes to a 'modern Watergate' and Democrats argued Patel’s own public statements about declassification made him an obvious fact witness. The disclosures deepen Republican claims that the Biden‑era Justice Department overreached in its Trump investigations, even as Smith has repeatedly defended his work as apolitical and by‑the‑book.
📌 Key Facts
- Two subpoenas show Jack Smith’s team asked Verizon for Kash Patel’s phone toll records covering October 2020 through February 2023.
- The subpoenas were accompanied by one‑year, court‑authorized gag orders preventing Verizon from notifying Patel.
- Sen. Chuck Grassley released the documents ahead of a Senate Judiciary hearing on the FBI’s 'Arctic Frost' investigation that led to Smith’s Trump prosecution.
- Patel was a senior Trump administration official until January 2021 and later a public pro‑Trump figure and grand‑jury witness in the classified‑documents case.
📊 Relevant Data
The Arctic Frost investigation issued 197 subpoenas targeting over 400 Republican-affiliated individuals and entities.
NEW: Jack Smith Subpoenaed Records for Over 400 Republican Targets as Part of Arctic Frost — Senate Judiciary Committee
The Arctic Frost investigation involved obtaining phone records or surveillance on eight Republican senators.
Biden FBI Spied on Eight Republican Senators as Part of Arctic Frost Investigation, Grassley Oversight Reveals — Senate Judiciary Committee
In 2017, the Department of Justice updated its policy on gag orders accompanying subpoenas to generally limit them to one year, requiring justification for extensions.
New DOJ Policy on Gag Orders Is Good, But the Courts Could Have Done Better — Electronic Frontier Foundation
During the Watergate scandal, the Senate Watergate Committee subpoenaed over 200 White House tapes and documents as part of its investigation.
Watergate Panel Votes to Subpoena 200 Tapes and Documents — The New York Times
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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