FBI analyzed Republican lawmakers' phone records during Jan. 6 probe, GOP senators say

Republican senators said the analyzed info included participants, dates and times for calls around Jan. 6, 2021, but that no content of those conversations was reviewed.

WASHINGTON — The FBI analyzed the personal cellphone data of nine congressional Republicans as part of its probe into the Jan. 6 riot, GOP senators said Monday.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, shared a one-page, unclassified document that he said shows that the cellphone “tolling data” of Republican lawmakers was sought and obtained in 2023 as part of the FBI’s “Arctic Frost” investigation — a precursor of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into efforts by President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said the data focused on calls made in the days around the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, adding that “no content” was retrieved but rather “who was called and time, date and time and length call.”

The document says an FBI special agent, whose name is redacted, conducted the analysis for nine GOP lawmakers: Johnson and Sens. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina; Bill Hagerty, of Tennessee; Josh Hawley, of Missouri; Dan Sullivan, of Alaska; Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama; Cynthia Lummis, of Wyoming; and Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee; and Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

Speaking to reporters, Grassley alleged that the records violated the privacy of the Republican lawmakers. He also warned that there could be consequences for people involved.