Five of the eight GOP senators whose phone records were secretly disclosed in the Biden-era Arctic Frost investigation say they will not take advantage of a new law that would allow them to recover up to $1 million in damages from the federal government.
The provision was added to the spending deal to reopen the government, which President Trump signed into law after a record-breaking, 43-day shutdown.
The House is planning a vote next week on a stand-alone bill from Rep. Austin Scott, Georgia Republican, to repeal the provision. It is expected to pass with bipartisan support under a fast-track process that requires a two-thirds majority.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said he and other House lawmakers are angry about the provision, which they were unaware was dropped into the spending bill until after it passed the Senate.
“That was way out of line,” he said. “I don’t think that was a smart thing to do. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. And the House is going to reverse, we’re going to repeal that, and I’m going to expect our colleagues in the Senate to do the same.”
The provision requires telecom providers to notify Senate offices they serve if they receive a subpoena or another legal request for Senate data. If the notification requirement is violated in relation to federal investigations, senators can sue the government for up to $500,000 in damages for each violation.
The language would apply retroactively, thus allowing the eight senators whose phone records were disclosed in the Arctic Frost investigation to seek a government payout.
Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed the senators’ January 2021 phone records as he investigated President Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election results. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg signed off on the subpoenas and ordered the phone companies not to reveal the disclosure of the records to the affected lawmakers.
It is believed that the grand jury’s subpoena and Judge Boasberg’s nondisclosure order would count as separate violations, entitling each senator to up to $1 million in damages.
The eight Republican senators whose records were disclosed are Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Ms. Blackburn, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Sullivan are not planning to seek damages.
“This fight is not about the money. It is about holding the left accountable for the worst weaponization of government in our nation’s history,” Ms. Blackburn said on social media.
She also said she supports the effort to repeal the provision.
Mr. Hagerty’s office did not return a request for comment on whether he supports the repeal effort, but he posted on social media that he will not pursue damages.
“I do not want and I am not seeking damages for myself paid for with taxpayer dollars,” he said.
Mr. Hagerty said Mr. Smith should be in jail and that he wants to see him “and everyone complicit in this abuse of power” held accountable.
Mr. Hawley said in a statement to The Washington Times that the provision allowing senators to sue the government “is a bad idea.”
“There needs to be accountability for the Biden DOJ’s outrageous abuse of the separation of powers, but the right way to do that is through public hearings, tough oversight, including of the complicit telecom companies, and prosecution where warranted,” he said.
A spokesperson for Mr. Sullivan said he did not learn about the provision until he and his staff were reading the spending bill.
“He does not plan on suing and is supportive of the House bill to repeal the provision,” the spokesperson told The Times.
Mr. Johnson said in a statement to The Times that he supports keeping the provision in law “as a deterrent to prevent future misuse of federal agencies,” but he has “no plans at this time” to seek damages for himself.
“If I did sue, it would only be for the purpose of using the courts to expose the corrupt weaponization of federal law enforcement by the Biden and Obama administrations,” he said. “With the full cooperation in our congressional investigations from the Trump DOJ and FBI, that shouldn’t be necessary.”
Mr. Graham is an outlier among the group in his vehement interest in suing for monetary damages.
“Oh, definitely,” he said when asked at a press conference in South Carolina if he would file a lawsuit. “And if you think I’m going to settle this thing for a million dollars, no. I want to make it so painful so no one ever does this again.”
Mr. Tuberville said on social media that he “will sue the living hell out of every Biden official involved” if Mr. Smith is not disbarred and thrown in jail and Mr. Boasberg is not impeached.
His office did not return a request for comment clarifying whether he would seek monetary damages and whether he opposes the effort to repeal the provision.
A spokesperson for Ms. Lummis said she did not author the provision and has not yet considered whether to pursue damages.
The inclusion of the provision in the spending deal drew widespread rebukes from House Republicans and Democrats, but only one GOP lawmaker cited it as a reason to vote against the measure.
“I could not in good conscience support a resolution that creates a self-indulgent legal provision for certain senators to enrich themselves by suing the Justice Department using taxpayer dollars,” Rep. Greg Steube, Florida Republican, said on social media. “There is no reason the House should have been forced to eat this garbage to end the Schumer Shutdown.”
