Sen. Marsha Blackburn Sues GOP Nemesis for Accessing Her Phone Records
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) says federal prosecutors collected her cell-phone records without her knowledge. She went to court Wednesday to challenge it.
The Tennessee Republican filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
It names former special counsel Jack Smith and the U.S. Department of Justice as defendants.
Blackburn states she first learned of the seizure on October 6, 2025, when congressional oversight disclosures brought it to light.
The subpoena behind it dates to May 25, 2023. On that day, a grand jury demanded her Verizon toll records.
Toll records list whom a person contacted, when the contact happened, and how long it lasted.
Investigators issued the subpoena during Arctic Frost, an FBI investigation that Smith’s office later took over.
Verizon could not tell Blackburn about the request. Smith’s office obtained a non-disclosure order that barred the company from notifying her.
The complaint alleges that the application for that order omitted a key fact. According to the filing, it never informed the presiding judge that the records belonged to a sitting U.S. senator.
Smith has addressed the order before Congress.
He testified that he approved the subpoenas, and that he understood the non-disclosure order meant the senators “didn’t have an opportunity to litigate the Speech or Debate concerns.”
The complaint also points to the calendar. Blackburn endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign in April 2023. The subpoena landed just over a month later.
Blackburn’s lawsuit rests on four legal grounds. It contends the seizure violated the Speech or Debate Clause, the First Amendment right of association, the Fourth Amendment, and 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3).
The Tennessee Republican filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
It names former special counsel Jack Smith and the U.S. Department of Justice as defendants.
Blackburn states she first learned of the seizure on October 6, 2025, when congressional oversight disclosures brought it to light.
The subpoena behind it dates to May 25, 2023. On that day, a grand jury demanded her Verizon toll records.
Toll records list whom a person contacted, when the contact happened, and how long it lasted.
Investigators issued the subpoena during Arctic Frost, an FBI investigation that Smith’s office later took over.
Verizon could not tell Blackburn about the request. Smith’s office obtained a non-disclosure order that barred the company from notifying her.
The complaint alleges that the application for that order omitted a key fact. According to the filing, it never informed the presiding judge that the records belonged to a sitting U.S. senator.
Smith has addressed the order before Congress.
He testified that he approved the subpoenas, and that he understood the non-disclosure order meant the senators “didn’t have an opportunity to litigate the Speech or Debate concerns.”
The complaint also points to the calendar. Blackburn endorsed Trump’s 2024 campaign in April 2023. The subpoena landed just over a month later.
Blackburn’s lawsuit rests on four legal grounds. It contends the seizure violated the Speech or Debate Clause, the First Amendment right of association, the Fourth Amendment, and 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3).
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