Phone Company Executives Reveal Why They Complied With Jack Smith’s Secret Subpoenas

Three phone company executives testified Tuesday about why they supplied Republican members of Congress’ records in response to former special counsel Jack Smith’s secret subpoenas.

The companies received at least 84 subpoenas during the Arctic Frost probe that became Smith’s case against President Donald Trump, including at least 10 associated with 20 current or former Republican members, according to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley.

“We have put new processes in place to increase transparency to members whose information is sought by law enforcement,” Chris Miller, senior vice president and general counsel of Verizon, told the committee. “We have been working closely with Congress and the administration for the past few months to address the important issues raised by this committee’s inquiry.”

Smith’s subpoenas sought toll records, which include logs of messages and calls, their duration and the number contacted, but not the content of any communications.

The companies did not always know requested accounts belonged to members of Congress. When subpoena analysts receive a valid legal demand, they aren’t trained to do an inquiry into the associated subscriber, Miller said.

Verizon and T-Mobile both complied with the subpoenas, while AT&T questioned a subpoena for Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s records. AT&T did produce records for former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, however.

“After responding to several, they [AT&T’s global legal center] reached out to my lawyers to discuss what was becoming a series of requests,” AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel David McAtee explained.

Cruz’s account was easier to identify as belonging to him because it was his campaign account, not a personal one, McAtee noted.

“In our database of customers, there are over 2,000 Kevin McCarthy’s,” he said, adding the company is now creating a database that allows members of Congress to identify numbers belonging to them.

In response to the request for Cruz’s records, a lawyer asked Smith’s team if the subpoena could implicate constitutional protections. The company did not receive a response, McAtee confirmed.

Before greenlighting the subpoenas, former head of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section John Keller warned prosecutors that there is “some litigation risk regarding whether compelled disclosure of toll records of a Member’s legislative calls violates the Speech or Debate Clause in the D.C. Circuit.”

“If you are a working person out there, just think of the fact that these guys — with one exception, Mr. McAtee’s company AT&T — all the other guys just handed over this data,” Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said. “They couldn’t do it fast enough. They rushed to do it. When they want to bill you, they can find you in a heartbeat. When it comes time to protect your data, they’re nowhere to be found.”

Several senators pointed out that Verizon violated the terms of their contract with the Senate, which required them to provide notification of requests for records, by turning over data associated with official lines.

“You failed me,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Miller. “You failed to honor the contract protecting all of us.”

Smith issued subpoenas targeting more than 400 Republican organizations and individuals. Tuesday’s hearing was the first in a series the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hold on Arctic Frost this year.

“This was the worst weaponization of government in American history,” Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said during her opening statement.

Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January, where questions about the toll record subpoenas featured prominently.

Smith admitted that McCarthy did not pose a “flight risk” that would justify hiding the subpoena for his phone records. He stated the reasons for seeking nondisclosure orders “aren’t necessarily associated with the subscriber to the phone, they’re the risks of the investigation.”

“It should be former special counsel Smith testifying as a witness today before this committee, not three telecom companies who responded to legally issued subpoenas,” Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday.