Jack Smith on Privacy

Response to this claim

Jack Smith said that the toll records his office obtained from telephone companies were non-content records, that the Public Integrity Section approved the subpoenas, and that the nondisclosure orders were consistent with the law and Justice Department policy at the time.

“First, with respect to toll records. Toll records are non-content records. They show who a call was to, who a call was from, and the length of that call. My office did secure toll records from third parties, third party telephone companies in the course of our investigation that were records for members of Congress. Before we did that, we consulted with the Public Integrity Section regarding whether those toll records subpoenas were appropriate. I approved those records and those records were materially relevant to our investigation. ... The records that we're talking about are non-content records. The toll records are non-content records that we sought to corroborate evidence we had and also to assist us in questioning witnesses about these events, among other things. ... We sought toll record subpoenas that did not contain the content of calls. I am also aware that we sought White House phones for individuals who are relevant to our investigation, government phones in which they had no expectation of privacy.”