The FBI analyzed the phone records of more than a half dozen Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation into efforts by President Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to information released Monday by GOP senators.
The records, which the FBI analyzed in 2023, enabled investigators to see basic information about the date and time of phone calls but not the content of the communications, the senators said. The data encompassed several days during the week of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to halt the certification of the election results.
A document dated Sept. 27, 2023, lists nine Republican lawmakers whose records were allegedly scrutinized: Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, as well as Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
The disclosure adds new detail to the since-shuttered investigation by the FBI and former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith into the steps Mr. Trump took in the run-up to the Capitol riot to undo his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Mr. Trump was indicted in August 2023 with conspiring to overturn the results, but the case was abandoned after Mr. Trump’s win the following year because of a Justice Department legal opinion that states sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.
The subpoena for the phone records was disclosed by several Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI. Grassley said the Sept. 27, 2023, document memorializing the “preliminary toll analysis” was found in response to his request. The investigative step was authorized by a grand jury, the senators said.
Grassley called it a “violation of personal property and people’s rights and the law and their constitutional rights.”
The document suggests the analysis was conducted by an FBI special agent whose name was redacted, and it was authorized by two supervisory agents. It does not say how or why those lawmakers were identified or whether any meaningful tips or leads emerged from that investigative work.
Some of the lawmakers were part of a group of Republicans who planned to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. After the voting was disrupted by the rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, most of the lawmakers named in the FBI document voted to certify the results, while Sen. Lummis and Rep. Kelly objected to at least one state.
The special counsel’s investigation delved into phone calls between lawmakers and the president on the evening of Jan. 6, 2021, which Smith alleged were part of a last-ditch attempt to talk congressional Republicans into blocking the certification of Biden’s victory. The 2023 indictment against Mr. Trump lists several attempts by Mr. Trump and his alleged co-conspirators to reach senators and representatives by phone. It argued the president “attempted to exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol by calling lawmakers to convince them, based on knowingly false claims of election fraud, to delay the certification.”
Last year, a final report penned by Smith — which argued the president would have been convicted if not for his 2024 election win — also pointed to phone calls placed by Mr. Trump and members of his circle. It cited toll records from two unindicted co-conspirators who are unnamed but are widely believed to be Rudy Giuliani and one other person.
The senators said they would not be conducting their own investigation because they expected FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino — both Trump loyalists — to review the matter. Grassley suggested that more people at the FBI would be fired over the investigation, saying, “If heads don’t roll in this town, nothing changes.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on social media that he had “grave concerns” about the incident.
“I fully support Senate committees getting to the bottom of this outrageous abuse of power and weaponization of the government,” said Thune, a South Dakota Republican.
CBS News has reached out to theSenate Judicary Committee’s Democratic side and to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for comment.
The Trump administration has taken aim at Smith’s investigation since returning to office. The Justice Department has fired staff members who worked for Smith, and a government body launched an investigation into Smith for allegedly engaging in illegal political activity while on the job — allegations Smith’s lawyers called “imaginary and unfounded.”
