Concerns Over DOJ Access to Republican Phone Records Addressed

During an appearance on CNN on Thursday, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe seemed to downplay worries regarding the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) access to phone records of Republican members of Congress.

Reports suggest that former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith accessed phone records and private communications of Republican Senators Josh Hawley (Missouri), Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Tommy Tuberville (Alabama), and Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) while looking into President Donald Trump’s actions surrounding the 2020 election results, as noted by Fox News. McCabe was on “The Arena with Casey Hunt,” where he defended Smith after it came to light that investigators had subpoenaed the phone records of those who opposed certifying the 2020 election results.

“I think it’s important that he is,” McCabe responded in support of Smith. He pointed out that in recent testimony, senators highlighted how their actions had been misrepresented to the public. “As you mentioned, Casey, obtaining call records is a fundamental step in nearly all investigations. It is typically done early when there’s a charge, and you’re trying to determine if it warrants further investigation,” he explained.

McCabe asserted that obtaining phone records from Republican senators would be essential to verify the allegations being made.

“If someone claims to have information about the president communicating with specific senators to disrupt Congress’s work on certifying the election, one way to validate that is to check call records to see if any contact occurred. If there was no contact, then we drop that investigative method. If there was contact, we’ll explore further techniques to get to the bottom of it,” he said.

He also noted that acquiring these records would necessitate a grand jury subpoena, emphasizing that the process is legal.

“I should mention that a grand jury subpoena is required to obtain these records. It’s not as simple as a prosecutor or FBI agent just calling the phone company for all their data. There’s a specific process, and these records are legally available under grand jury authority,” McCabe stated.

When asked if the FBI applies stricter standards to investigations involving Congress members compared to civilians, McCabe acknowledged an internal policy that treats elected officials as sensitive subjects in investigations. However, he confirmed that the FBI retains the authority to pursue such leads.

“Certainly, there are guidelines that make these investigations sensitive,” he said. “At the FBI, there are specific types of investigations we deem as sensitive.”

Smith reportedly expanded his probe to include various right-wing groups, such as Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

In August 2024, Smith secured a superseding indictment against Trump, shortly after the Supreme Court upheld Trump’s immunity claims concerning an earlier lawsuit. In November 2024, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the charges at Smith’s own request, following Trump’s election victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland released Smith’s final report on January 14, detailing findings about Trump’s attempts to contest the 2020 election results. Smith was appointed by Garland in November 2022 to investigate both Trump’s election challenge and his handling of classified documents.

McCabe was dismissed from his position during the first Trump administration in 2018 due to allegations of misleading statements about leaking information to the media. His firing was reversed by the Biden administration in 2021.