Hawley tells Smith he "hid the fact from the court" that he sought members' records and says "My phone was one of them"
Josh HawleyU.S. senator from Missouri, questioning Smith at the Senate Judiciary hearing
Sen. Josh Hawley's questions and former special counsel Jack Smith's answers, through Smith's closing response, at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Sept. 29, 2026 hearing.
Excerpt from 4:18:37 to 4:26:27 of the committee's archived hearing video. DI added its logo in the corner.
Video: U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Public domain (U.S. government work) (opens in a new tab)
Watch the full original video (opens in a new tab) (relevant passage: Sen. Josh Hawley's questions and Smith's answers, about 4:18:40 to 4:21:10, and Smith's closing response at about 4:26:06 to 4:26:25 on the archived video timeline)
Questioning Smith at the hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley said the Constitution protects members' work product and phone records and that Smith knew it, and that Smith's office went to the phone companies and hid from the court that it was seeking the records of members of Congress. He said his own phone was one of those obtained.
“The only problem was the Constitution protects members of Congress' work product and their phone records. And you knew that was the case, didn't you? ... You went to the phone companies, and you hid the fact from the court that you were seeking the records of members of Congress, didn't you? You didn't tell the court you were seeking subpoenas from the phone companies for members of Congress, did you? You hid that from the court. Isn't that correct? ... My phone was one of them that you got.”
Original video
Other statements by Josh Hawley in this case
- Hawley tells Hannity Jack Smith "should be charged" and "lied to Congress"Same day: Condemned
Where this statement fits
Were members of Congress's phone records and text messages properly obtained in the Arctic Frost and Jack Smith investigations?
On September 29, 2026, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled "Oversight of Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans and Related Matters," with former special counsel Jack Smith as its only witness. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and other Republicans said that Smith's team, in the FBI's Arctic Frost investigation and its own election case, obtained members of Congress's phone toll records and text messages, used nondisclosure orders to keep members from learning of it, and breached the Speech or Debate Clause. Smith said the toll records were non-content records obtained after he directed his staff to consult the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, and that the nondisclosure orders were consistent with the law and Justice Department policy at the time. Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) called the attacks on Smith "petty, personal, and political." The sides and the documents give different counts of the members affected. The dispute is whether the collection of members' phone records and messages was proper.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Senate Judiciary Committee's archived video of the September 29, 2026 hearing. Sen. Josh Hawley questioned Smith about the Speech or Debate Clause, the nondisclosure orders and the court, and Smith answered.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Watch the clip from this source at the top of the page.
Before the quotation
Hawley questioned Smith near the end of the hearing. He said Smith had briefed the Attorney General that members likely have a valid Speech or Debate privilege against compelled testimony, and cited a January 8, 2023 memo to Smith from his own office titled Speech or Debate Litigation Summary. Smith replied that he understood there are constitutional protections and that his office followed the Constitution.
After the quotation
Smith answered, "We did not say who the subpoenas were for when we sought a nondisclosure order. That part is correct." Hawley then said Smith had lied to the House about obtaining members' text messages; Smith said he answered every question truthfully and, in closing, that the National Archives records were a request for White House phones. Whether Smith gave false testimony is outside this case's question.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Hawley said the Constitution protects members' phone records, that Smith knew it, that Smith hid from the court that the records were members', and that his own phone was among them. That rejects the collection and the way the nondisclosure orders were obtained as improper, so we labeled it Condemned.
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The Dispute Index. "Hawley tells Smith he "hid the fact from the court" that he sought members' records and says "My phone was one of them"". First published: 2026-09-29. Last updated: 2026-09-29. https://disputeindex.com/events/3314-questioning-smith-at-the-hearing-sen-josh-hawley