This article originally appeared on theDaily Caller News Foundationand was republished with permission.
Guest post byKatelynn Richardson
Three phone company executives testified Tuesday about why they supplied Republican members of Congress’ records in response to former special counsel Jack Smith’s secret subpoenas.
The companies received at least 84 subpoenas during the Arctic Frost probe that became Smith’s case against President Donald Trump,includingat least 10 associated with 20 current or former Republican members,accordingto Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley.
“We have put new processes in place to increase transparency to members whose information is sought by law enforcement,” Chris Miller, senior vice president and general counsel of Verizon, told the committee. “We have been working closely with Congress and the administration for the past few months to address the important issues raised by this committee’s inquiry.”
Smith’s subpoenassoughttoll records, which include logs of messages and calls, their duration and the number contacted, but not the content of any communications.
Verizon and T-Mobile both complied with the subpoenas, while AT&Tquestioneda subpoena for Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s records. AT&T did produce records for former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, however.
“After responding to several, they [AT&T’s global legal center] reached out to my lawyers to discuss what was becoming a series of requests,” AT&T Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel David McAtee explained.
Cruz’s account was easier to identify as belonging to him because it was his campaign account, not a personal one, McAtee noted.
“In our database of customers, there are over 2,000 Kevin McCarthy’s,” he said, adding the company is now creating a database that allows members of Congress to identify numbers belonging to them.
Source: The Vigilant Fox
