WASHINGTON – The FBI in 2023 analyzed phone records of more than a half dozen Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation into efforts by President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to information released Monday by GOP senators.
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, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to halt the certification of the election results.
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The disclosure adds new detail to the since-shuttered investigation by the FBI and former special counsel Jack Smith into the steps Trump and allies took in the run-up to the Capitol riot to undo his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump was indicted in August 2023 on charges of conspiring to overturn the results, but the case was abandoned after Trump’s win the following year in light of a Justice Department legal opinion that says sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.
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 document indicated that the analysis was conducted by an FBI special agent whose name was redacted and that it was authorized by supervisory agents. It does not say how or why those lawmakers were identified or whether any meaningful tips or leads emerged from that investigative work.
Most of the lawmakers were part of a group of Republicans who planned to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. After the voting was disrupted by the rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, some voted to certify the results, while others still voted against certification.
The senators said they would not be conducting their own investigation because they expected FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, both Trump loyalists, 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.
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