Fitzgerald calls the Smith secrecy orders an abuse while urging reform
Scott FitzgeraldU.S. representative from Wisconsin, speaking on the House floor
Fitzgerald argues that keeping lawmakers unaware of the collection of their phone records circumvented constitutional protections. He urges passage of the NDO Fairness Act to limit secrecy orders and require a stated justification.
“Regardless of your politics, this should alarm every sitting Member of Congress. The NDO Fairness Act of 2025 would stop this abuse, which has allowed the circumvention of the Fourth Amendment protections in favor of convenience.”
Original text
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 text
About this source
Fitzgerald and Raskin support limits on secrecy orders but disagree about the propriety of Smith's congressional-record subpoenas. The House passes the bill; this source does not establish enactment.
Before the quotation
Fitzgerald says Smith obtained orders preventing carriers from notifying members of Congress for nearly two years.
After the quotation
He describes proposed limits on secrecy orders and urges House passage of the bipartisan bill.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case concerns the propriety of obtaining congressional phone records and withholding notice. Fitzgerald expressly criticizes Smith's use of secrecy orders as an abuse.
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The Dispute Index. "Fitzgerald calls the Smith secrecy orders an abuse while urging reform". First published: 2026-11-01. Last updated: 2026-11-01. https://disputeindex.com/events/7611-fitzgerald-argues-that-keeping-lawmakers-unaware-of-the