Nearly ten republican senators and a representative would have seen their private communications tracked down by former special advisor Jack Smith under the Biden administration, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel on Monday.
Files obtained by Fox News to show that Smith, in his official capacity at the Ministry of Justice (DoJ) while he was investigating President Donald Trump and the events of January 6, 2021, would have followed telephone calls from Republican Senators Lindsey Graham (SC), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (Wi), Josh Hawley (Mo), Cynthia Lummis (Wy) HAGERTY (TN), Dan Sullivan (AK), Tommy Tuberville (Al) and the Republican representative Mike Kelly (PA).
The alarming document, revealing that Smith and his team “Arctic Frost” had assigned telephone providers for legislative files in 2023, was “recently discovered” by patel, according to Fox News.
Patel confirmed the legitimacy of the conclusions in an article X, writing: “We recently discovered proof that the telephone recordings of the American legislators were seized for political purposes. »»
“This abuse of power ends now,” continued the director of the FBI. “Under my direction, the FBI will bring truth and responsibility, and will never be used as a weapon against the American people again. »»
An FBI official told the media that Smith and his team, which opened its doors in the office in 2022, could see what issues the politicians contacted, the places where the calls and places they were received came.
The officials also explained that the files had been investigated following a surveillance request from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), to which Patel and Deputy Director of FBI, Dan Bongino, responded personally.
A source added that calls “probably referred to the vote to certify the 2020 elections,” said Fox News.
Bongino informed the legislators concerned on Monday afternoon and told the publication that it was a “shame” to have had to reveal these conclusions.
“It is a shame that I have to find myself in the Capitol and reveal that the FBI was once a weapon to follow the private communications of the American legislators for political purposes,” said Bongino. “This era is over.”
He added: “Under our direction, the FBI will never be used as a political weapon against the American people. »»
Several of the senators who would have been spied on expressed themselves at a subsequent press conference with Grassley and made statements on their respective social media pages, Hawley qualifying the actions of Smith “abuse of power beyond the Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, which directly affects the Constitution, the separation of powers and the first amendment”.
Lummis described the surveillance of “attack on legislative power under the Biden administration” which requires “an immediate investigation and prosecution”.
Johnson and Hagerty stressed that it was not the “first time” that they were monitored by an administration led by the Democrats, recalling Obama administrationit’s alleged monitoring of Trump and his allies.
“This is not the first time that has happened,” Fulminates Hagety:
Johnson agreed, saying: “It doesn’t surprise me.”
Blackburn described the alleged espionage of “abomination”:
“I won’t let it stay,” she added in a post X.
Tuberville immediately jumped on that of Steve Bannon Warship To discuss the document after being briefed, saying: “It will be a big problem … I would have always thought it would have been North Korea, or China, or Russia, not our own government. And Joe Biden was listening to the phones of the senators of this country through the FBI. It’s really a shame.”
The US Special Advisor (OSC) opened in August a investigation On Smith, who could illegally target Trump, reported Breitbart News.
Announcing that “the Americans will finally learn the truth” on the shady actions undertaken by senior officials of the National Security Council (NSC) of former President Barack Obama, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard published overwhelming documents which show how they laid the bases of “what was essentially a coup of several years” against Trump:
Olivia Rondeau is a political journalist for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find it on X/Twitter And Instagram.