VIDEO: Blackburn Presses Phone Company Executives on Complicity in Jack Smith’s Witch Hunt Against Conservatives
February 10, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, led the Committee’s first hearing of the year on Arctic Frost. During her questioning of executives from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, Senator Blackburn pressed Senior Vice President of Verizon Chris Miller on why the company handed over the phone records of sitting Members of Congress to Jack Smith without asking any questions.
Click here to download Senator Blackburn’s opening statement.
Click here to download her exchanges with the witnesses.
EXCERPTS OF REMARKS
Blackburn Calls Arctic Frost ‘Worst Weaponization of Government in American History’
“We are ultimately here this morning because Jack Smith violated his oath of office. He trampled on Americans' rights that are enshrined in the Constitution.”
“Jack Smith secretly subpoenaed the phone records of sitting U.S. Senators and Congressmen… But Jack Smith didn't stop there. He also made sure that we didn't find out about this deep invasion of our privacy, ensuring that an Obama appointee, Judge James Boasberg, signed non-disclosure orders that were attached to the subpoenas and had no basis in fact.”
“Jack Smith's corrupt team of prosecutors consulted with the Biden DOJ… and concluded essentially that while there was some litigation risk related to the Speech and Debate Clause, they could go ahead with the subpoenas regardless because the affected Members of Congress would never find out about this.”
“They thought they could hide it, and we would never know.”
“Thanks to brave whistleblowers and Chairman Grassley’s unflinching investigative work, we found out about the subpoenas, and that is why we're holding the hearing.”
“This was the worst weaponization of government in American history, and I'm determined to ensure that Jack Smith is held accountable to prevent another Arctic Frost from happening again. The American people deserve nothing less.”
Blackburn Presses Verizon Representative on Handing Over Elected Officials’ Phone Records Without Blinking
Senator Blackburn: “Let me ask you this. I’ve got a question in something in your testimony, and I’m going to quote you, ‘Our processes could’ve been better suited to meet what was a new and unique set of circumstances.’ End quote… So, what you’re basically saying is it took Jack Smith issuing secret subpoenas for the records of dually elected Members of Congress as part of a weaponized investigation of President Trump for Verizon to finally realize that it probably could have ‘better processes?’ Is that accurate?”
Mr. Miller: “We should have had a better process to address the situation.”
Senator Blackburn: “So… what you are saying is that you had no process in place as of May 2023, and you had no way of identifying that something was a Member of Congress’ records? Is that accurate?”
Mr. Miller: “That’s correct.”
Senator Blackburn: “Why didn’t you reach out like AT&T did?”
Mr. Miller: “I don’t want to speak for my fellow panelists at AT&T. I would say that was a good catch.”
Senator Blackburn: “I didn’t ask you to speak for them. I asked why you did not take an action, and you did not.”
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