Jack Smith subpoenaed GOP phone logs despite DOJ lawyers' constitutional concerns: emails

WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed Republican lawmakers’ phone logs even after the Department of Justice warned of “litigation risk” stemming from the potentially unconstitutional probe, according to emails released this week by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

John D. Keller, the principal deputy chief of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section (PIN), wrote to one of Smith’s aides on May 17, 2023, that his office “concurs in the subpoenas for toll records” for GOP senators and House reps — but cautioned that the “compelled disclosure” could violate the US Constitution’s speech or debate clause.

That warning was based on past rulings by the DC Circuit Court and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the latter of which held “that a legislator ass