Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says former special counsel Jack Smith obtained checks from at least 4,782 Americans as part of his “Arctic Frost” investigation, giving the Biden administration access to these individuals’ bank accounts and routing numbers.
Grassley grilled Smith about the collection of these checks and the privacy consequences of those checks getting into the government’s hands. Grassley said the checks included home addresses, bank account and routing numbers, and signatures from Americans across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
“No matter what you say, there’s no legitimate basis for what you did,” Grassley said to Smith during Tuesday’s hearing. “Especially since your staff killed an investigation into the Clinton campaign. Donations to Republican groups wasn’t necessary to your investigation, which is proved out by the fact it wasn’t mentioned in your public report.”
Smith confirmed that he obtained donor data, including financial information, during his testimony on Tuesday.
“Yes, we acquired financial information,” Smith said Tuesday, referencing his investigations into President Donald Trump. “As I sit here right now, I cannot recite to you every subpoena we issued. I can tell you why we issued subpoenas, and it was to conduct a criminal investigation of one of the most serious crimes that’s ever happened in our nation’s history. I had a duty to collect facts.”
Smith’s testimony on Tuesday centered on his two investigations of Trump: his investigation of the Jan. 6 riot and the 2020 election, and his investigations of the classified documents case.
“Now, the Justice Department and the FBI, will forever possess thousands of people’s address, phone number, bank and bank account number, bank routing number, and a copy of their true signature,” Grassley said. “Every member of this committee ought to be outraged for what happened to their constituents.”
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According to Grassley’s office, the news of the checks comes from whistleblower disclosures, and the checks were routed to former FBI Special Agent Walter Giardina.
The donations made to Trump’s campaign and Trump-aligned groups were largely small-dollar donations, according to Grassley.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
