Darline Graham says "How the hell was Lindsey going to tamper with evidence he didn't even have in his possession?"
Darline GrahamU.S. senator from South Carolina and younger sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died in July 2026
Sen. Darline Graham's remarks and questions to former special counsel Jack Smith at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Sept. 29, 2026 hearing.
Excerpt from 3:35:43 to 3:43:23 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. Darline Graham's remarks and questions to Smith, about 3:35:46 to 3:43:21 on the archived video timeline)
Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) told Smith that his office secured a subpoena in May 2023 for the phone records of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and that her brother was kept in the dark. She asked how he could have tampered with evidence that Verizon, not he, held.
“In May 2023, your office secured a subpoena for the phone records of my brother, Lindsey. ... Lindsey was kept in the dark, as were several senators you targeted. ... How the hell was Lindsey going to tamper with evidence he didn't even have in his possession?”
Original video
Reporting

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. Darline Graham (R-SC) said Smith's office had secured a subpoena for the phone records of her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and questioned the nondisclosure order; Smith answered that Lindsey Graham was not a target of the investigation.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Watch the clip from this source at the top of the page.
Reporting
About this source
CBS News report on Sen. Lindsey Graham's death on a Saturday evening in July 2026. It also identifies Darline as his younger sister.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), who was presiding, called on Graham after saying he would soon have to leave. She said Smith's investigation had reached into the Senate through the subpoena for her brother's records.
After the quotation
Smith replied that her brother "was a patriotic public servant," was not a target of the investigation and likely would have been a witness in the case. Asked why the order said disclosure could lead to tampering with evidence, Smith said disclosure "could result in Donald Trump attempting to intimidate witnesses as he had before and after," and that his office had "an ample basis for that."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether the collection of members' phone records and messages was proper. Graham criticized the subpoena for her brother's records and the nondisclosure order that kept him unaware of it, asking how he could have tampered with evidence held by Verizon. That rejects the collection as improper, so we labeled it Condemned.
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More from this case
Read the full caseGrassley calls Smith's actions unlawful and unconstitutional
“the major embarrassment of the hearing was Democrats falling over themselves defending unlawful and unconstitutional actions by Jack Smith.”Read statement
Harker argues for personal accountability in Blackburn's suit
“She filed it against Jack Smith in his personal capacity to seek accountability, not money”Read statement
Chenoweth condemns alleged concealment supporting the records order
“I think that it's intolerable behavior”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Darline Graham says "How the hell was Lindsey going to tamper with evidence he didn't even have in his possession?"". First published: 2026-09-29. Last updated: 2026-09-29. https://disputeindex.com/events/3345-sen-darline-graham-r-sc-told-smith-that