GOP lawmaker accuses Jack Smith of ‘spying’ on Congress at tense House hearing over Trump probe
Former special counsel Jack Smith spent hours publicly defending the parameters of his investigation into President Donald Trump on Thursday in the face of sharp questions from Republicans on the...
By Fox News · Fox News
Former special counsel Jack Smith spent hours publicly defending the parameters of his investigation into President Donald Trump on Thursday in the face of sharp questions from Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee — including one lawmaker in particular who repeatedly accused Smith of "spying" on certain lawmakers. During one of the most contentious portions of the hearing, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., pressed Smith over the so-called "tolling records" Smith sought as part of the special counsel investigation, which included investigating Trump's alleged attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 election. Unlike wiretaps, tolling records are phone logs that reveal the phone numbers of incoming and outgoing callers, as well as the time and duration of calls. Republicans have zeroed in on the tolling records in recent months, blasting them as an aggressive tactic by Smith and an act of "political weaponization," which Smith vehemently denied. TRUMP STRIPS SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM LAW FIRM TIED TO JACK SMITH CASES Issa, in particular, excoriated Smith for the decision to seek the tolling records of Republicans in the House and Senate — which he said Thursday was tantamount to spying on his political "enemies." Smith, for his part, defended the tolling records as "common practice" in such investigations. "Maybe they’re not your political enemies, but they sure as [heck] were Joe Biden's poltiical enemies, weren’t they?" Issa asked Smith. "They were Harris's political enemies," he said, referring to the former vice president. "They were the enemies of the president — and you were their arm, weren’t you?" "No," Smith said. JACK SMITH SUBPOENAED FOR DEPOSITION WITH HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE "So, you spied on the speaker of the House and these other senators and so on, and informed no one — and in fact, put a gag order in — so they couldn’t discover it," Issa said. Smith attempted to respond before Issa continued. "Why did Congress, a separate branch that you, und…