Schiff says Republicans raised no objection when the Barr Justice Department "sought toll records from members of Congress"
U.S. senator from California and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
“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.”
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Senate Judiciary Committee's archived video of the September 29, 2026 hearing. Sen. Adam Schiff said Republican senators had not objected when an earlier Justice Department sought members' toll records, and said members' toll records were requested as witnesses, not targets.
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Schiff's turn followed Sen. Darline Graham's. He began by telling Smith he was sorry Smith had been attacked during the hearing and by saying that none of his Republican colleagues had contested the events of January 6, 2021.
After the quotation
Schiff went on to say Republicans had also been silent when the Justice Department sought to indict two senators and four House members over a video about illegal orders, and then discussed the evidence of January 6 and the second volume of Smith's report. Later, after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse made a similar comparison, Chairman Grassley entered into the record a November 2, 2023 letter to the Justice Department inspector general about subpoenas of congressional staff records in 2017, and said Republicans did raise concerns about the Justice Department obtaining records from congressional staff of both parties.
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?
The case asks whether the collection of members' phone records and messages was proper. Schiff said the outrage over the toll-record requests was not matched when an earlier Justice Department sought Democratic members' toll records, and said members were witnesses rather than targets. That defends the collection as consistent with past practice, so we labeled it Defended or excused.
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Were members of Congress's phone records and text messages properly obtained in the Arctic Frost and Jack Smith investigations?
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Read the full case“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
“Well, then you had to know it violated the speech and debate clause. In fact, when you went to Judge Boasberg, you didn't even tell him you were seeking the phone records of members of Congress, did you? Because you knew he wouldn't agree. He would say, hey, counselor, anybody who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog knows that this violates the Constitution.”Read statement