Jack Smith collected banking information on thousands of trump supporters
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s sweeping investigation into President Donald Trump included the financial data of everyday supporters across 50 states who gave as little as $1 to the president and allied groups, new documents reveal.
Smith’s team obtained at least 4,782 checks from everyday Americans making mainly small-dollar donations. Smith’s sweep — though ostensibly focused on the events of Jan. 6, 2020 — hoovered up checks from September 2019 to August 2023.
The Biden administration wielded the country’s most powerful law enforcement tools to spy on Republicans with little concern for whether it violated the Constitution, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said.
Grassley released the documents as part of an ongoing probe into the investigation the FBI codenamed “Arctic Frost” that formally began in April 2022 into a 2020 fake elector scheme. Arctic Frost and two other FBI investigations — one relating to Jan. 6 codenamed “Project Coconut” and one related to Mar-a-Lago documents codenamed “Project Cranberry” — mired Trump’s return to the White House and ensnared hundreds of conservative individuals and entities.
Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, where Grassley pressed Smith on the apparent overreach.
“Did you obtain possession of donor data, to include financial information, yes or no?” he asked.
After a pause, Smith said, “our investigation was focused on investigating matters under my mandate including whether any person or entity violated the law with attempts to block the peaceful transfers of power.”
“Let me ask the question again. Did your special counsel operation obtain possession of donor data, to include financial information, yes or no?” Grassley pressed.
“Yes we acquired financial information. As I sit here right now I cannot recite to you every subpoena we issued. I can tell you why we issued subpoenas,” Smith said. “It was to conduct a criminal investigation into one of the most serious crimes in our nation’s history. I had a duty to collect facts.”
“You answered yes … The list includes checks from constituents in every state of every single member of this committee, both Republicans and Democrats,” Grassley replied. “Every member on this committee ought to be outraged for what happened to their constituents. Which one of my Democratic colleagues will join me in that outrage?”
Smith’s team obtained at least 4,782 checks from everyday Americans making mainly small-dollar donations. Smith’s sweep — though ostensibly focused on the events of Jan. 6, 2020 — hoovered up checks from September 2019 to August 2023.
The Biden administration wielded the country’s most powerful law enforcement tools to spy on Republicans with little concern for whether it violated the Constitution, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said.
Grassley released the documents as part of an ongoing probe into the investigation the FBI codenamed “Arctic Frost” that formally began in April 2022 into a 2020 fake elector scheme. Arctic Frost and two other FBI investigations — one relating to Jan. 6 codenamed “Project Coconut” and one related to Mar-a-Lago documents codenamed “Project Cranberry” — mired Trump’s return to the White House and ensnared hundreds of conservative individuals and entities.
Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, where Grassley pressed Smith on the apparent overreach.
“Did you obtain possession of donor data, to include financial information, yes or no?” he asked.
After a pause, Smith said, “our investigation was focused on investigating matters under my mandate including whether any person or entity violated the law with attempts to block the peaceful transfers of power.”
“Let me ask the question again. Did your special counsel operation obtain possession of donor data, to include financial information, yes or no?” Grassley pressed.
“Yes we acquired financial information. As I sit here right now I cannot recite to you every subpoena we issued. I can tell you why we issued subpoenas,” Smith said. “It was to conduct a criminal investigation into one of the most serious crimes in our nation’s history. I had a duty to collect facts.”
“You answered yes … The list includes checks from constituents in every state of every single member of this committee, both Republicans and Democrats,” Grassley replied. “Every member on this committee ought to be outraged for what happened to their constituents. Which one of my Democratic colleagues will join me in that outrage?”
70-79, M
