Newly Declassified Documents Reveal Jordan, GOP Lawmakers Probing DOJ Misconduct as Smith's Team Seized Their Phone Records

Declassified emails and memos released on November 20, 2025, by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) show that House Republicans, including Judiciary Committee members Jim Jordan and Louie Gohmert, were actively investigating Department of Justice and FBI politicization when Special Counsel Jack Smith's team subpoenaed their phone records in April 2022 as part of the Arctic Frost probe into January 6, 2021. The documents, obtained through Grassley's Senate Judiciary Committee oversight, indicate the seizures overlapped with congressional inquiries into whistleblower complaints of agency retaliation, manipulated domestic extremism data, and inadequate Jan. 6 investigations, raising questions about whether the subpoenas aimed to monitor oversight efforts.

The phone record seizures stemmed from Smith's investigation, launched in April 2022 under then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, into alleged efforts to obstruct the Electoral College certification. Subpoenas targeted nine Republican lawmakers: Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), covering January 4-7, 2021. Jordan's subpoena spanned January 1, 2020, to April 25, 2022, encompassing 28 months. Gohmert and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy were also affected, with the DOJ obtaining metadata from Verizon without notifying recipients, as revealed in fall 2025 FBI documents.

At the time, Jordan, as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, was leading probes into FBI and DOJ conduct. On April 26, 2022—the day after the subpoena cutoff—Jordan wrote to Inspector General Michael Horowitz requesting review of FBI retaliation against employees for Jan. 6-related political activity, citing uncharged individuals who did not enter the Capitol but faced adverse actions under "allegiance" guidelines. The committee's November 2022 report detailed whistleblower accounts of politicization, including purging conservative employees, using counterterrorism resources against protesting parents, and inflating domestic extremism statistics.

Former Rep. Louie Gohmert told the John Solomon Reports podcast: "They were trying to spy on us to see what we were doing... and also, I think they were looking for anything that they could use to come after us, or hold over our heads." He highlighted constitutional privilege under the Speech or Debate Clause (U.S. Const. art. I, § 6), requiring DOJ to use intermediaries like House counsel to protect whistleblower confidentiality, a step ignored here. DOJ official John Keller emailed in May 2023 that "the litigation risk should be minimal here" due to secrecy, dismissing concerns.

The overlap suggests potential retaliation, as the Judiciary Committee received whistleblower complaints in 2022 on FBI issues. Grassley, in a November 20 letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, demanded records on the subpoenas, noting they "may have been used to monitor congressional oversight." The documents show Smith's team proceeded despite internal warnings of Speech or Debate violations, with no evidence the records were used in prosecutions.

This revelation, part of Grassley's broader inquiry into Biden-era investigations, underscores tensions between executive probes and legislative oversight. No charges resulted from the records, and Smith's Jan. 6 case against Trump was dismissed in July 2024 after the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. The findings could fuel calls for accountability, with Jordan stating in 2023, "There's a constitutional privilege... because we have whistleblowers that contact us."