Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., expressed concern that the Justice Department may have breached norms by collecting text messages from lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats, as part of former special counsel Jack Smith's investigations.
Blumenthal stated that Republicans are "rightly concerned" about the possible breach of norms and improper access to email, and suggested that more facts are needed to determine the extent of the issue.
A recent release of documents by the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that Smith's investigation into President Donald Trump included the collection of text messages from 44 members of Congress and White House staff.
The messages were related to Smith's probe of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol and Trump's storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Other Democrats were less willing to comment on the issue, with some declining to address the matter altogether.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., brushed off questions about the issue, referencing the confirmation hearing of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, while Booker's own text messages were among those seized by the Justice Department.
A number of other Democrats, including Sens. Adam Schiff, Mazie Hirono, Alex Padilla, and Patty Murray, also declined to comment on the issue.
The new documents have raised questions about how far prosecutors went in accessing lawmakers' private communications and whether Justice Department safeguards failed during highly consequential investigations into Trump.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., characterized Smith as a "political hack" who should not have been involved in the investigation, citing his perceived lack of objectivity and emotional impartiality.
The Judiciary Committee claims that the lawmakers' messages were reviewed in a way that runs afoul of DOJ protocol, with a "filter team" supposed to review the communications before Smith's investigative team could examine them.
However, the contractors managing document review software for the filter team failed to properly set up permission guardrails, allowing the investigative team to access documents that had not been screened.
Multiple Republican lawmakers have alleged that Smith perjured himself by answering "no" to a question about whether he requested text messages from lawmakers as part of his investigation, although some Democrats have expressed skepticism about the allegations.
