Jordan Refers Jack Smith for Review of 44 Lawmakers' Texts

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 23

Jim Jordan sent the Justice Department a criminal referral accusing former special counsel Jack Smith of misleading Congress about whether his team obtained or reviewed lawmakers’ text messages.
Justice Department records released by Republican-led Senate committees say Smith’s investigators accessed White House records containing messages involving 44 current and former members of Congress from Oct. 1, 2020, to Jan. 20, 2021.
The documents say Smith’s team apparently bypassed a filter process meant to screen potentially privileged material before investigators saw the messages, a point Republicans cast as evidence of misconduct.
Smith’s lawyers called the referral meritless, saying his December 2025 deposition answers were truthful and responsive and that he was not required to volunteer information beyond the questions asked.
The lawmakers whose messages were swept up included senior Republicans and some Democrats tied to the 2020 election certification fight, widening the dispute over how Smith’s Trump investigations handled congressional communications.