{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2026/9/blackburn-sues-jack-smith-for-unlawfully-seizing-phone-records", "Blackburn Sues Jack Smith for Unlawfully Seizing Phone Records", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) filed a lawsuit against former Special Counsel Jack Smith for unlawfully subpoenaing her cell phone toll records during the Arctic Frost investigation.\n\n\u201cThrough his Arctic Frost witch hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the President of the United States, Jack Smith perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation\u2019s history,\u201d said Senator Blackburn. \u201cThis lawsuit is solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable and ensuring that our nation\u2019s justice system can never again be weaponized against the American people. I thank the New Civil Liberties Alliance for their partnership in filing this complaint and for fighting to uphold our cherished constitutional rights.\u201d\n\nThe New Civil Liberties Alliance filed the complaint on behalf of Senator Blackburn in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The lawsuit asks the Court to declare Smith\u2019s appointment unlawful under the U.S. Constitution\u2019s Appointments Clause and to hold Smith accountable, in his personal capacity, for his gross abuses of power. Importantly, this lawsuit seeks an award of nominal damages of only one dollar\u2014underscoring the point that Senator Blackburn is solely interested in holding Jack Smith accountable for his weaponization of government.\n\nThe lawsuit comes one day after Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which revealed that Arctic Frost obtained sensitive information\u2014including home addresses, bank account numbers, and signatures\u2014on 4,782 Americans who donated to President Trump, including 102 Tennesseans.\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nJack Smith was illegally named Special Counsel in November 2022. Then-President Biden did not nominate Smith, nor did the Senate confirm Smith as either Special Counsel or in any other position. Additionally, no statute authorized Smith\u2019s appointment.\n\nSmith and others in the DOJ, FBI, Special Counsel\u2019s office, and Public Integrity Section agreed to subpoena Senator Blackburn\u2019s cell phone toll records, revealing whom she spoke with, when, and for how long.\n\nSmith also obtained a non-disclosure order from the Court, while withholding from the judge that the subpoena sought the records of a sitting U.S. Senator. That non-disclosure order required the Senator\u2019s cell phone provider to keep the subpoena secret.\n\nSenator Blackburn was not the only target. Smith\u2019s office is alleged to have subpoenaed the toll records of at least twenty Members of Congress \u2014 all Republicans \u2014 and roughly 400 Republican individuals and organizations.\n\nSmith issued the subpoena and non-disclosure order for Senator Blackburn\u2019s records on May 25, 2023, just over a month after she became one of the first sitting senators to endorse President Trump\u2019s 2024 re-election campaign. Senator Blackburn did not learn her records had been seized until October 6, 2025.\n\nRELATED\n\nVIDEO: Blackburn Presses Phone Company Executives on Complicity in Jack Smith\u2019s Witch Hunt Against Conservatives\n\nBlackburn Leads Colleagues in Calling for DOJ Investigation into Jack Smith for Spying on Republican Members of Congress\n\nBlackburn Demands Answers from Cell Phone Carriers Who Allowed Biden FBI to Spy on Members of Congress", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2026/9/blackburn-sues-jack-smith-for-unlawfully-seizing-phone-records"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.213175408542156, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}