Senate Republicans Demand Verizon Explain Handling of Jack Smith’s Subpoenas for Lawmakers’ Phone Records

A widening Senate investigation is examining how telecommunications giant Verizon managed subpoenas issued by former Special Counsel Jack Smith during “Operation Arctic Frost,” a federal investigation into alleged Trump election interference. Republican lawmakers are questioning why the company failed to initially disclose one subpoena during a congressional records search, raising concerns about notification procedures and corporate transparency.

Jack Smith’s office subpoenaed Verizon and other phone carriers for toll records belonging to members of Congress and other Republican figures as part of the Arctic Frost probe. Verizon acknowledged in 2025 that “human error” caused it to omit Smith’s May 25, 2023 subpoena from an earlier response to inquiries from Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley.

In a Thursday letter to Verizon CEO Daniel Schulman, Grassley and more than a dozen Republican senators demanded the company explain when executives first learned the subpoena targeted lawmakers’ records and why affected members of Congress were not notified. The senators whose records were obtained include Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, and others.

Toll records consist of metadata including phone numbers, call dates, times, durations and cell-tower locations, but exclude conversation contents. Grassley’s October 2023 request to Verizon sought information about Justice Department requests for Senate devices dating to 2016, but the company initially responded it had no records predating October 2019.

Both Verizon and AT&T received subpoenas accompanied by gag orders from Obama-appointed Judge James Boasberg, prohibiting disclosure to lawmakers for one year. While Verizon complied with Smith’s requests, AT&T resisted them, according to 2025 documents provided to Grassley.

The senators are demanding Verizon explain the “human error” claim with specificity and produce internal records spanning May 2023 to October 2025 discussing whether the company believed it was obligated to notify implicated members or the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms. Grassley set an August 13 deadline for Verizon’s response.

Former Inspector General Michael Horowitz cautioned in a 2025 report against the DOJ issuing subpoenas for lawmakers’ information except in limited circumstances, stating such requests “risk chilling Congress’s ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch.” Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans have characterized Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation as “worse than Watergate.”