GOP lawmakers refer Jack Smith to DOJ for misconduct investigation and possible disbarment

Published October 17, 2025 1:20pm ET



A group of Republican lawmakers led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has referred former special counsel Jack Smith to the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility for a misconduct investigation and urged his disbarment in two states, citing what they called “deeply disturbing revelations” that Smith secretly obtained their phone records.

In a letter sent Friday to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Blackburn and four other GOP senators accused Smith of violating constitutional protections and professional ethics rules when his team subpoenaed call logs from multiple members of Congress during the 2023 phase of the DOJ’s Arctic Frost inquiry, a forerunner to Smith’s election-interference prosecution of President Donald Trump.

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