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Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., brought a formal complaint against Verizon on Monday, issuing a set of demands after the carrier handed over some of his phone data to the Department of Justice during the Biden Administration.
Lawyers for Hagerty wrote in the complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, reviewed by Fox News Digital, that Verizon should publicly admit wrongdoing and discipline employees who were involved in complying with a subpoena for his phone data. Otherwise, the FCC should declare that Verizon violated federal law and assign an independent monitor to watch over the company, Hagerty’s lawyers wrote.
“Such discipline by the FCC would send a clear message that companies cannot collude with politically motivated prosecutors to violate customers’ rights,” Hagerty’s lawyers wrote. “Verizon is not above the law.”
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The Tennessee Republican’s complaint detailed how Verizon complied with former special counsel Jack Smith’s team by giving the prosecutors a narrow set of Hagerty’s and several other GOP senators’ phone data as part of Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump and the 2020 election.
Verizon justified its actions in a letter to the Senate in the fall, saying the subpoenas appeared “facially valid” and only contained phone numbers. They did not identify the subscribers or include information about Smith’s investigation, Verizon said.
The phone company said it did not notify the senators about the subpoenas because they were accompanied by court-authorized gag orders.
Fox News Digital reached out to a Verizon spokesperson for comment on the FCC complaint.
Republicans have widely condemned the subpoenas, saying they violated the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members an added layer of protection when it comes to prosecutorial matters.
Smith has repeatedly stood by them, saying he handled them according to DOJ policy at the time. The policy in question has since been changed to require prosecutors to notify the courts if requested gag orders pertain to Congress members. Previously, it did not include that requirement, leading the courts to authorize gag orders against the senators and deprive them of the ability to try to quash the subpoenas.
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Hagerty’s FCC complaint is the latest instance of a senator seeking recourse for the subpoenas. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was also targeted in Smith’s probe, supported a controversial provision in the government spending bill last year that gave senators the ability to bring $500,000 civil lawsuits against the DOJ.
The provision caused significant infighting because of the perception that it would allow senators to enrich themselves, and the House later voted 426-0 to repeal it.
Hagerty’s complaint comes one day before Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., another of Smith’s targets, holds a Senate hearing called “Arctic Frost Accountability.” Witnesses set to testify include executives of Verizon and AT&T.
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