Hawley tells Smith he "hid the fact from the court" that he sought members' records and says "My phone was one of them"
U.S. senator from Missouri, questioning Smith at the Senate Judiciary hearing
“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.”
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)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
Case context: Were members of Congress's phone records and text messages properly obtained in the Arctic Frost and Jack Smith investigations?
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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Were members of Congress's phone records and text messages properly obtained in the Arctic Frost and Jack Smith investigations?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“for all of the outrage of my colleagues over your requesting toll records because Rudy Giuliani and other co-conspirators were calling some of the members of this body ... the Barr Justice Department sought toll records from members of Congress. Not a peep from my colleagues about that ... That apparently was okay. That apparently doesn't violate speech and debate. ... My colleagues talked about the stress on members of having their toll records requested as witnesses, not even targets.”Read statement
“It's been widely reported that you and your team issued some 44 subpoenas related to the tolling records of at least 20 Republican members of Congress, including at least eight U.S. senators, including at least four members of this committee ... it appears the actual reason for the NDOs was to avoid giving those members the opportunity to challenge the subpoenas pursuant to the protection that they enjoyed under the Constitution's speech and debate clause. ... Your team took actions to directly undermine the separation of powers at the heart of the Constitution.”Read statement
“the Department of Justice's own Public Integrity Section, it did give you explicit warnings that going after the phone records of members of the legislative branch carried what they referred to as litigation risks due to these constitutional privileges. ... you never actually told Chief Judge Boasberg that you were targeting 19 members of a coordinate branch of government, the legislative branch. ... There should be an articulated basis for secrecy when you're asking for a gag order. ... in a way that arguably makes what Richard Nixon did in Watergate look like a Sunday picnic.”Read statement