Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has broken with his party to express concern over the Justice Department’s handling of an investigation led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith. The investigation, which involved the collection of text messages between 44 members of Congress and White House staff, has raised questions about the possible breach of norms and improper access to email.
Investigation Details
The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee released documents showing that the Justice Department collected text messages as part of Smith’s probe into President Donald Trump. The messages were related to the January 6 protests at the Capitol and Trump’s storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Blumenthal told Fox News Digital that Republicans are rightly concerned about the possible breach of norms and that more facts are needed to understand the situation. Other Democrats, including Sens. Cory Booker, Adam Schiff, and Mazie Hirono, declined to comment on the issue.
Republican Reaction
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., called Jack Smith a ‘political hack’ and questioned his ability to exercise power objectively. The Judiciary Committee claims that the lawmaker’s messages were reviewed in a way that runs afoul of DOJ protocol, with a ‘filter team’ failing to properly set up permission guardrails.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
