Veteran Dem breaks party line as Jack Smith spying scandal grips Capitol Hill
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that his Republican colleagues are right to be troubled that the Justice Department spied on lawmakers to aid former Special Counsel Jack...
By Fox News · Fox News
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital that his Republican colleagues are right to be troubled that the Justice Department spied on lawmakers to aid former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations. "I think we need to have more facts. Look into it. Republicans are rightly concerned about the possible breach of norms and improper access to email," Blumenthal told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee released a trove of documents Tuesday showing that Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump included the Department of Justice collecting text messages between 44 members of Congress, among them Republicans and Democrats, and White House staff. The messages were purportedly related to Smith's probe of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol and Trump’s storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. TODD BLANCHE EXPOSES HOW AGGRESSIVE BIDEN DOJ TARGETED LOW-LEVEL MAR-A-LAGO EMPLOYEES Other Democrats were less willing than Blumenthal to lend credence to Republican concerns regarding how Smith carried out his investigation. "I've got no comment on that. If you want to talk about the news of the day, I will," Sen. Cory Booker , D-N.J., told Fox News Digital, referencing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing. Booker was among the lawmakers who had their text messages seized by the Justice Department. Sens. Adam Schiff , D-Calif., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., all declined to comment on the issue when approached by Fox News Digital. DEM SENATOR'S STUNT GOES SIDEWAYS AFTER GOP LAWMAKER TORCHES HIM AT IMMIGRATION HEARING Blumenthal’s remarks mark a rare note of bipartisan concern over Smith’s handling of politically sensitive communications, even as other Democrats avoided weighing in on the GOP-led probe. The new documents have intensified Republican scrutiny of whether Justice Department safeguards failed during highly consequential investigations into Trum…