The records enabled investigators to see basic information about the date and time of the calls but not the content of the communications, the senators said. The data encompassed several days during the week of Jan. 6, 2021.
The subpoena for the phone records was disclosed by several Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI. Grassley said the document memorializing the “preliminary toll analysis” was produced in response to his request. The investigative step was authorized by a grand jury, the senators said.
Grassley called it a “violation of personal property and people’s rights and the law and their constitutional rights.”
That document was dated Sept. 27, 2023, and lists the following Republican lawmakers as people whose records were apparently scrutinized: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
The senators said they would not be conducting their own investigation because they expected FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino to review the matter. Grassley suggested that more people at the FBI would be fired over the investigation, saying, “If heads don’t roll in this town, nothing changes.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on social media that he had “grave concerns” about the incident.
“I fully support Senate committees getting to the bottom of this outrageous abuse of power and weaponization of the government,” said Thune, a South Dakota Republican.
