Former Special Counsel Jack Smith secretly grabbed texts from 87 Trump White House phones. This move swept up private communications from The Federalist and over a dozen other news groups. Senator Chuck Grassley exposed this during a recent Senate hearing. Smith knew these requests would grab privileged talks with Congress.
Grassley stated Smith “targeted hundreds of Republican groups and individuals” during the probe. The records included texts from major outlets like Fox News, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal. The Federalist was among the specific names listed by the Senator. Smith’s team did not filter out protected legislative information before taking the data. This means private media talks were caught in a broad net designed for political targets.
Jack Smith should follow his OWN advice.
He went after President Trump TWICE to try and sway the 2024 election.
All political. pic.twitter.com/smjkeJKc2i
— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) September 29, 2026
According to The Federalist, this operation was code-named “Arctic Frost.” Margot Cleveland wrote that the plan was designed to “target Republicans in key battleground states.” The hearing title itself called it an “Oversight of Jack Smith’s Abuse of Authority.” Smith obtained these records while the investigation was officially underway to build a case against Trump.
Jack Smith appeared before the committee and said he would prosecute Trump again today. He told senators his decisions were made “without regard to President Trump’s political association.” Smith claimed he “follow the facts and the law without fear or favor.” He argued the evidence showed Trump “willfully broke the law.” Per RedState, Smith insisted politics played no role in his choices.
He stated he “developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes.” However, the records show he took texts from members of the media and legislative branch. Grassley noted Smith subpoenaed “87 Trump White House phones, knowing they’d include communications with Members of Congress.” This contradicts Smith’s claim of a purely fact-based approach.
BREAKING: Statement From Sean Davis, CEO and Co-Founder of The Federalist:
Corrupt cop Jack Smith spied on The Federalist and accessed our communications during his lawless anti-Trump witch hunt. We are still working to determine which of our reporters were targeted by Jack…
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 29, 2026
Senator Dick Durbin defended Smith as a “nonpartisan career prosecutor” during the hearing. He called the accusations against Smith “baseless conspiracy theories.” Yet the documents list 17 specific media outlets whose data was seized. The Federalist, Reuters, and NPR were all on the list of seized records. Smith said he would act the same way “regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat.” The data shows he targeted a specific group of Republicans and their press allies.
This isn’t just about Trump. It is about your right to speak freely with the press. If the government can grab your texts just because you talk to a reporter, no one is safe. The Federalist reported that Smith failed to “filter out Speech or Debate privileged information.” This means they ignored the law protecting your voice in the halls of power.
President Trump has called Smith a “deranged lunatic” and a “Trump hater.” The evidence now shows why he used those words. Smith’s office took records from 60 Minutes, the Associated Press, and the Mark Levin Show. They did this while claiming to be neutral. The receipts show a different story. We need to know who authorized this grab of private media data. The Senate must demand answers on who gave the order to take these texts. This ends with the truth finally coming out about who spied on us.
