Verizon complied with Jack Smith subpoenas while AT&T refused the recordings

FIRST ON FOX: Two major phone carriers took very different paths when former special counsel Jack Smith’s team subpoenaed phone records related to Republican lawmakers in 2023, according to subpoenas and redacted letters first shared with Fox News Digital.

The documents, provided by the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reveal Verizon’s compliance and AT&T’s resistance to Smith’s requests, which were part of Arctic Frost, the FBI investigation that led Smith to file election charges against President Donald Trump.

The 12 phone numbers listed on the Verizon subpoena are redacted and replaced by Grassley’s office with the names of the lawmakers associated with them. They include one House member and 10 senators, including Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fl., whose name was not previously announced.

AT&T received a similar request, according to a second subpoena. The company told Grassley that the subpoenaed phone records were associated with two lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, according to a source directly familiar with the matter. The source said AT&T declined to release the name of the second person.

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Then-Special Advisor Jack Smith speaks at a news conference in Washington, August 1, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Both subpoenas were accompanied by orders of silence, signed by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., which ordered the two phone companies not to disclose the subpoenas to lawmakers for a year. Prosecutors can request such silence orders to temporarily keep investigative matters confidential.

The phone companies also wrote letters to Grassley, first shared with Fox News Digital, explaining how they handled the subpoenas they received, revealing two different approaches.

Verizon justified its compliance with the subpoenas, saying they were “apparently valid” and contained only phone numbers, not names. Verizon said that with “hindsight” and recent discussions with the Senate Sergeant at Arms, who manages congressional telephone services, the company has changed its policies to further challenge law enforcement requests regarding members of Congress.

AT&T, meanwhile, has not complied with the subpoenas.

“When AT&T raised questions with Special Counsel Smith’s office regarding the legal basis for searching the records of Members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not act on the subpoena and no records were produced,” wrote David Chorzempa, AT&T’s general counsel.

Senator Chuck Grassley speaks during a news conference on the Arctic Frost investigation with other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee weeks after the continued U.S. government shutdown in Washington, DC, October 29, 2025. (Reuters/Annabelle Gordon)

The release of copies of the subpoenas and new details from the phone companies comes after Grassley earlier this month released a one-page FBI document indicating the existence of the subpoenas and naming most of the senators. They included Republican Senators Marsha Blackburn, Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson and Cynthia Lummis.

Cruz later revealed he was in the mix, and Scott announced Thursday he was also a target.

Grassley said Wednesday that Smith’s assignment to Verizon included Cruz’s office landline. In Verizon’s letter to Grassley, it noted that there were no records to provide to Smith regarding the landline request.

The two subpoenas against Verizon and AT&T sought toll records for a four-day period surrounding the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. They did not include the contents of phone calls or messages, which would require a warrant, but they did include “detailed (call) records for incoming and outgoing calls, text messages, direct dial and voice messages” as well as the subscriber’s phone number and payment information.

News of the subpoenas sparked an outcry from senators, who claimed Smith had inappropriately spied on them and that Arctic Frost was “worse” than the Watergate scandal. Lawmakers raised numerous constitutional concerns, including claiming the subpoenas violated the Speech and Debate Clause, which gives lawmakers an extra layer of immunity from investigation.

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Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, noted that he himself has faced media scrutiny but said the issues can be resolved in civil court. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Smith, in response, said in a letter through his lawyers that he mentioned the subpoena of the senators’ phone records in his final public special counsel report and that the subpoenas were narrowly tailored to the four-day period and “entirely appropriate.”

Smith asked lawmakers in the House and Senate to allow him to testify before them at a public hearing to talk about his work as special counsel. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, however, wants to question Smith behind closed doors and Grassley said he needs more information before hosting Smith in a public setting.

The DOJ has issued subpoenas for information on lawmakers in the past, but the former inspector general Michael Horowitz warned against the practice except in limited circumstances in a report released last year, saying it “risks crippling Congress’s ability to exercise oversight over the executive branch.”

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Horowitz’s warning came in response to the Trump administration’s first subpoena of the phone records of Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and then-Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, and dozens of members of Congress from both parties as part of an investigation into classified information leaked to the media.

Although they have additional constitutional protections, members of Congress can still be investigated and prosecuted. Former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s phone records were seized while he was in office. Menendez is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted by a jury last year of corruption charges.

Read copies of the Verizon and AT&T letters and subpoenas below.

Application users:

Click to read the letter from Verizon

Click to read Verizon subpoena

Click to read the letter from AT&T

Click to read AT&T subpoena