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EXCLUSIVE: AT&T turned over private, personal cellphone records belonging to then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to then-special counsel Jack Smith in January 2023 during his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Fox News Digital has learned.
Fox News Digital first reported Thursday that Smith subpoenaed AT&T for McCarthy’s records, but AT&T had indicated to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley that the company had not shared any of the former speaker’s phone records.
But Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter AT&T sent to Grassley, R-Iowa, citing the previous reporting, which led the telecommunications company to review the case and change its response.
JACK SMITH TARGETED THEN-HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S PRIVATE PHONE RECORDS IN J6 PROBE, FBI DOCS REVEAL
Smith on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the “toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)”
The information was included as part of a “significant case notification” drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.
AT&T, though, notified Grassley that the company received a subpoena for McCarthy’s records in January 2023, separate from the May 2023 subpoena for other toll records, and allegedly inadvertently supplied those personal cellphone records to Smith.
“AT&T is producing today a January 23, 2023 grand jury subpoena issued by former Special Counsel Jack Smith to AT&T, also accompanied by a non-disclosure order relating to the subpoena,” AT&T wrote.
AT&T referenced Fox News Digital’s exclusive reporting on the subpoena.
“We identified (the subpoena) yesterday as such based on the phone number in the subpoena,” the company continued. “Based on this newly found record, we write to correct our October 24, 2025 response, which was based (on) a reasonable review of our records at that time.
“AT&T’s Global Legal Demand Center receives hundreds of thousands of legal demands each year, and unlike the May 2023 subpoena discussed in our October 24 response, the subpoena we produced today did not seek records from a campaign account.
“Rather, as confirmed from press accounts, the subpoena sought records for a personal cellular phone number,” AT&T continued. “It also did not in any way indicate that the information sought related to a member of Congress. As a result, the subpoena processing center had no reason to believe that the phone number was associated with a member of Congress, and AT&T did not make further inquiries to the Special Counsel and produced the information as required by the subpoena.”
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News Digital that “Jack Smith broke the law and seized my phone records as speaker of the House.”
“If corrupt justice will do it to the speaker, they’ll do it to anyone,” he said. “The DOJ has the authority and responsibility to hold him accountable.”
JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS
Lawyers for Smith declined to comment.
AT&T had initially told Grassley that when the company received the May 2023 request for records, it “raised questions with Special Counsel Smith’s office concerning the legal basis for seeking records of members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not pursue the subpoena further, and no records were produced.”
AT&T had also stressed that the company “has not produced any records or other information to Special Counsel Jack Smith” relating to “any member of Congress.”
The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
An official told Fox News Digital those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers.
GOP SENATOR DEMANDS FBI REVEAL IF SURVEILLANCE WENT BEYOND JACK SMITH’S PHONE TRACKING
Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy.
“As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley.
Grassley and Johnson are investigating “Arctic Frost.”
“Arctic Frost” was opened inside the bureau April 13, 2022. Smith was appointed as special counsel to take over the probe in November 2022.
An FBI official told Fox News Digital that “Arctic Frost” is a “prohibited case” and that the review required FBI officials to go “above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.” The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.
Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case. But after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.
Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million.
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