Sen. Josh Hawley falsely says FBI ‘tapped’ senators’ phones during Jack Smith probe

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The Missouri Republican referenced FBI documents which revealed the time and duration of calls made and received by lawmakers.

By Kyle Cheney


Sen. Josh Hawley falsely claimed Tuesday that newly disclosed records revealed that the FBI “tapped” the phones of eight sitting U.S. senators during special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of President Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election.

Hawley was describing an FBI document, publicly released Monday by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, that referenced a “preliminary toll analysis” of nine lawmakers. Grassley underscored that the records revealed a subset of calls made and received by those lawmakers and did not reveal the content of those calls — only the time and duration.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, during her Tuesday testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not correct Hawley’s characterization of the records. Bondi said she had spoken with FBI Director Kash Patel “at length” about the records and could not discuss the details “for very good reason.”

It’s unclear why the FBI reviewed the phone records of the particular set of senators included on the list. Though some, like Hawley, were deeply engaged in efforts to block the certification of Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election, others appeared less involved.