Special Counsel Jack Smith Sought Phone Records of More Republican Lawmakers Than Previously Known

Internal Department of Justice emails obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital reveal that prosecutors working for special counsel Jack Smith targeted a broader group of Republican lawmakers for phone records than previously disclosed, including newly identified names such as Texas Rep. Brian Babin, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, and then-New York Rep. Lee Zeldin.

The email exchanges, which began on January 9, 2023, show Smith’s team mapping out connections between House and Senate lawmakers who interacted with key figures in Smith’s investigation into the 2020 election. These figures included former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who spearheaded many of Trump’s unsuccessful legal challenges to the election results.

“I’d like to seek [the Public Integrity Section’s] concurrence to get phone tolls for several MOCs who had contact with pertinent parties in our investigation,” wrote DOJ lawyer Timothy Duree in one of the emails. “I’ll keep the timeframe tight—probably October 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021.”

Duree compiled a list of 16 names and proposed discussing whether to “subpoena these all at once.” The comprehensive list included Representatives Babin and Biggs, along with former Representatives Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Louie Gohmert, Zeldin, and Jody Hice. Also included was Gohmert’s chief of staff Connie Hair and seven senators whose names had been previously revealed through public disclosures, including Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee).

While previous public disclosures had confirmed that some lawmakers’ phone records were subpoenaed, the newly obtained emails do not definitively establish whether Smith ultimately executed subpoenas for all individuals on the list, including Babin, Biggs, and Zeldin.

Raymond Hulser, an adviser on Smith’s team, acknowledged the scope of the request in the email chain, writing: “It just occurred to me that before we tell Main we are going to fire off subpoenas for so many members tolls I should make sure Jack’s aware.”

The subpoenas have become a focal point of scrutiny as House and Senate Judiciary Committee members continue their investigation into Smith’s work. Republican lawmakers targeted in the probe have condemned the actions as violations of the Constitution’s speech or debate clause, which provides members of Congress enhanced immunity from investigations.

Smith, for his part, has defended the subpoenas as “entirely proper” and in accordance with Department of Justice protocol. However, the controversy highlights the tension between prosecutorial powers and constitutional protections for elected officials engaged in legislative activities.

Beyond members of Congress, public disclosures by congressional committees have revealed that Smith’s investigation cast a wide net, targeting hundreds of Republican-affiliated individuals and organizations as he pursued charges against Trump. Smith eventually brought four criminal charges against Trump alleging illegal attempts to overturn the 2020 election results but dropped the case after Trump won the 2024 election, citing DOJ policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Another email from the January 2023 chain reveals that Hulser directed Duree to consult the January 6 Committee’s report to identify members who interacted with Trump and Giuliani on January 6, 2021, the day of the U.S. Capitol breach. This instruction underscores how Smith’s prosecutors leveraged the investigative work of the committee to advance their probe—a committee that Republicans have widely criticized as partisan in composition, with seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans.

In subsequent communications, Hulser indicated that Smith wanted to “narrow” the list of 16 names, prompting Duree to provide a prioritized list for the “first round” of subpoenas. The first name on this list was “Brian Babin (texts with Meadows; calls with Chip Roy, Perry, Ratcliffe, and Meadows),” with other names following a similar format noting their communications with key figures in the investigation.

Fox News Digital reached out to Smith’s representatives and the lawmakers mentioned in the emails, including Zeldin, who now leads the Environmental Protection Agency, but has not yet received responses.