Senate Hearing on Telecom Companies’ Handling of Subpoenas

In Washington, Senate Republicans challenged top attorneys from Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile during a tense hearing on Tuesday. The focus? The revelation that these companies had secretly passed along phone records to federal prosecutor Jack Smith amidst his investigation into the 2020 election interference.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who led the Judiciary subcommittee hearing, described the “Arctic Frost” disclosures as potentially the most egregious misuse of government power seen in recent U.S. history. In contrast, Democratic leaders like Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) insisted that Smith’s subpoena was lawful.

Some Republican senators, particularly those directly impacted, were vocal about feeling their records were taken without their consent. They argued this action breached the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution.

“We’re talking about members of Congress here,” remarked Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), a Verizon customer whose cell phone data was compromised. “The fact that you’ve admitted to getting hundreds of thousands of requests for personal info yearly is outrageous—customers deserve to know you’re ignoring them.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) chastised Verizon’s general counsel, Chris Miller, suggesting he should “hide his head in his bag.” Miller wasn’t the only target; Kennedy extended his critique to the general counsels of AT&T and T-Mobile, stressing that the situation wasn’t over.

Throughout the hearing, telecom attorneys denied any misconduct in responding to about 84 subpoenas. They maintained that the call records of 20 Republican members of Congress were handed over under court orders with strict confidentiality requirements.

“We were obligated by law to share this information,” Miller stated, emphasizing that ignoring a valid legal request isn’t an option, no matter who the subpoena involves.

AT&T had complied with two subpoenas but raised concerns about the legality of releasing records for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-S.C.) among others. This hesitation caused the special counsel’s office to reconsider.

“So they retracted like a cheap suit? I mean, they didn’t push back,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pointedly asked.

“They didn’t follow up,” McAtee from AT&T confirmed.

“Because they were fishing,” Graham replied, suggesting that a stronger challenge might have deterred the request.

All three companies indicated that their policies regarding congressional phone records have now changed. Despite this, Sen. Durbin and other Democrats stressed that both the rioters at the Capitol and the telecom companies acted within legal boundaries.

Former prosecutor Mike Romano mentioned that subpoenas for toll records are a standard part of criminal investigations, especially in cases involving conspiracy.

However, privacy advocates like Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have previously aligned with Republicans in asserting that phone companies often neglect their commitments to inform lawmakers when government surveillance occurs on official devices.

Graham further admonished Miller for Verizon’s contractual agreement with the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, voicing his disappointment, “You let me down!”

Miller conceded that Verizon had “frustrated both policymakers and customers,” but he maintained that there was no breach of obligation or law.

In a heated moment, Blackburn referred to Smith’s earlier testimony, indicating that responsibility lies with the carriers for accurately tracking whose records are being requested.

Lawyers from the telecom companies confirmed that Smith’s team or the FBI had sent multiple subpoenas across all three companies, including those to Verizon, while around a dozen customers had provided “rate analysis” to Smith that encompassed call records without content.

Notably, several senators, including Blackburn, Hawley, and Graham, were among those represented by Verizon, and there were concerns raised about the integrity of the process in light of this fact.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) even requested that the FCC look into Verizon after lodging a complaint on Monday about his own records being accessed.

McAtee revealed that AT&T’s response included records for other prominent figures, highlighting the broad reach of the subpoenas. Even Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) was affected, finding his T-Mobile records among those submitted.