Blanche indicated that the Justice Department could investigate former special counsel Jack Smith for perjury related to testimony he gave to Congress about his investigation into Mr. Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, raised records made public by Grassley on Tuesday that showed that members of Smith’s team had sought and obtained text messages from the National Archives and Records Administration, which included messages from 44 members of Congress.
The Justice Department said one of Smith’s investigators had asked the National Archives for all text messages from October 2020 through Jan. 20, 2021, from phones tied to certain White House personnel. That material included messages between White House staff and 44 lawmakers.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers were among the 44 whose messages with White House personnel were obtained by Smith’s team, according to the Justice Department. Among them were Republicans including Grassley, Hawley, Cruz and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, and Democrats including Booker and Reps. Adam Smith of Washington and Joshua Gottheimer of New Jersey, as well as former Rep. Karen Bass of California.
Smith was questioned by House lawmakers in December about the records he obtained during his investigation, and specifically toll records he obtained from members of Congress. Toll records include data like telephone numbers, the times of calls and length of calls, and do not include the content of messages.
During one exchange, a House investigator asked Smith whether he sought search warrants for the content of text messages from members, to which Smith answered, “No, I don’t recall that.” He did say he sought a warrant for the toll records.
But Hawley suggested that Smith had lied to Congress when he was asked about the toll records.
“Maybe there’s some nuance I’m missing here, but it seems to me like this guy didn’t tell the truth,” Hawley said. “Have you thought about investigating this guy for perjury?”
In response, Blanche said, “we take testimony in front of this body very seriously. Yes.”
