Boasberg Unseals 1 Set of Jack Smith Lawmaker Phone Records Filings Over DOJ Objections
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 16
Boasberg Unseals 1 Set of Jack Smith Lawmaker Phone Records Filings Over DOJ Objections
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 16
Summary
Judge James Boasberg on Thursday released one representative, redacted set of court filings tied to Jack Smith’s subpoena for a lawmaker’s call logs from the Jan. 6 investigation.
The unsealed papers show prosecutors sought gag orders on phone companies without telling the court the accounts belonged to members of Congress, identifying them only by phone numbers.
The Justice Department had fought The New York Times’ request, arguing the government never formally acknowledged the subpoenas; Boasberg had signaled skepticism at a May hearing and reviewed the files privately last week.
Smith’s use of secret subpoenas for lawmakers’ toll records has been public since October, but Boasberg did not explain what executive-branch actions he viewed as enough to pierce grand-jury secrecy.