A provision of the legislative package that would end the shutdown allows senators to bring lawsuits if federal law enforcement seizes or subpoenas their data without notifying them, with potential damages of $500,000 for each violation.
The language appears to allow GOP senators to sue over steps that the Justice Department took during special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Trump related to the 2020 election. In October, Senate Republicans revealed an FBI document that showed investigators had obtained phone record data from eight senators and one congressman for calls they made in the days before and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The records were obtained pursuant to a subpoena in 2023.
The bill requires service providers to alert Senate offices and the Senate sergeant at arms if federal law enforcement requests senators’ data, and says a court cannot delay the notification unless the senator is the target of a criminal investigation.
The bill further states: “Any Senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency.”
The bill says senators are entitled to $500,000 for each violation of the notification provisions, and it prevents the government from invoking several types of immunity to rebut the claims. Suits can be brought up to five years after a senator is first made aware of a violation, and allows senators to bring suits for any instances that occurred after January 2022. The FBI analyzed the senators’ call records in 2023, meaning they could bring lawsuits under the legislation.
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