Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., was one of nearly a dozen Senate Republicans allegedly probed by former Special Counsel Jack Smith, an investigation she wasn’t aware of until earlier this month.
She was one of several Senate Republicans that Smith allegedly surveilled as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. But it was only revealed earlier this month by the FBI — thanks to an oversight request by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — that Smith allegedly requested phone records on her and others.
Blackburn told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that until the documents from Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ investigation were revealed, she had no idea that her phone records were being surveilled.
She believed the ‘common thread’ behind the former special counsel’s probe, which was carried out in 2023, was because ‘the eight of us are all Republicans. We all support President Trump.’
Blackburn and Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Bill Hagerty, R-Wyo., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., were all reportedly part of Smith’s investigation.
In response, Blackburn and many of the others that were allegedly surveilled by Smith want to see him disbarred.
‘This is about making certain we have one tier of justice, and that we stop this two tiers of justice,’ Blackburn said. ‘And if they can do this to eight sitting U.S. senators, what could they possibly — I mean, think about how, what they must be doing to conservatives in this country.’
Last week, she and Graham, Tuberville, Sullivan and Kelly sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding an investigation into Smith, and that he be referred to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility.
The end goal of the investigation is to see Smith disbarred from both New York and Tennessee, two states where he holds a license to practice law. Blackburn argued that Smith’s alleged spying on her and others was a ‘First Amendment and Fourth Amendment violation.’
Her latest push against the former special counsel came on the heels of another letter sent to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon demanding why the cellphone carriers allegedly allowed Smith and the FBI under the Biden administration to track their communications.
‘You would have thought that, because of the Stored Records Act and the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Speech and Debate Clause, that at least Verizon, who’s my wireless carrier, would have informed me that there was a request on my records,’ she said.
‘But of course, there was nothing given to us, and it’s the reason that we sent the letter to Verizon and then followed it with a letter … to the DOJ on Jack Smith,’ she continued.
Smith is one of a handful of former officials that have been targeted by the DOJ under the Trump administration. He is currently under investigation by the Office of Special Counsel for alleged Hatch Act violations, which bars government employees from participating in political activities.
Then there are federal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly making false statements and obstructing justice, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
Blackburn was one of many Republicans that railed against so-called political witch hunts against President Donald Trump when he was out of office. When asked what the difference between the indictments against Trump and his allies compared to the latest crop of former officials, she said it was about accountability.
‘These need to be investigated so that this kind of stuff stops,’ Blackburn said. ‘And one of the differences, I think you see between Democrats and Republicans, is Democrats repeatedly circle the wagons, and they push things under the rug, and then they want two tiers of justice. And with Republicans, the focus is on accountability and transparency, and I think that is a major, major difference.’
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