Sen. Marsha Blackburn's opening remarks at the Senate Judiciary Committee's Feb. 10, 2026 hearing on phone carriers' responses to Jack Smith's subpoenas.

At the opening of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on February 10, 2026, Sen. Marsha Blackburn said that five members of the Judiciary Committee, Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and herself, and several other senators and House members had their phone records subpoenaed by Smith. She said the nondisclosure orders signed by Judge James Boasberg had no basis in fact, and that Smith's team consulted the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section and concluded the subpoenas could go ahead despite litigation risk under the Speech or Debate Clause because members would never find out. She called the matter "the worst weaponization of government in American history."

“Five members of this committee, Senators Graham, Lee, Cruz, Hawley, and I, had our phone records subpoenaed by Jack Smith, in addition to several other senators and members of the House. ... He also made sure that we didn't find out about this deep invasion of our privacy, ensuring that an Obama appointee, Judge James Boasberg, signed non-disclosure orders that were attached to the subpoenas and had no basis in fact. ... concluded essentially that while there was some litigation risk related to the Speech and Debate Clause, they could go ahead with the subpoenas regardless because the affected members of Congress would never find out about this invasion of privacy and violation of constitutional rights. ... This was the worst weaponization of government in American history”