Lindsey Graham to introduce legislation letting Americans impacted by Jack Smith dragnet to sue

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, tells Just the News he is planning to introduce legislation to allow any Americans, not just senators, whose privacy was violated by ex-Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s sweeping investigation into conservatives to sue the government for damages.

During an interview on the John Solomon Reports podcast, the South Carolina Republican explained why senators slipped into last week’s spending bill that reopened the federal government a provision allowing eight senators whose phone records were subpoenaed by Smith to sue for damages.

He also pushed back against House Republicans such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, who have threatened to strip the provision through future legislative action.

Graham said that House members shouldn’t strip the provision but rather expand it to all individuals and groups impacted by Smith’s investigation, and he plans to introduce such legislation in the next few days, possibly with supportive House members. 

“We should expand accountability, not shrink it. You know, Republicans are frustrated with members of Congress at times because we don't fight back,” Graham said.

“And I hear some Republicans say, ‘Well, you know you shouldn’t sue the government.’ If you want to live in a country where you can't sue the government when you're wronged, be my guest. You better move from America,” he added. “As long as I'm around, if the government does you wrong, I don't care who you are, from high to low, anywhere in between, you can go to court and hold them accountable. The day you can't do that, the day you can't sue the government who's wronged you, then you've lost your freedom.”

Johnson, the House speaker, was reportedly angered to learn that senators had slipped the provision into last week's spending bill and has vowed to pass legislation to reverse it, citing concerns about changing law retroactively to create penalties for events that occurred in the past. 

But Graham’s solution to expand the provision beyond senators to everyday Americans could have some appeal in the GOP-led House. Even Johnson, in an interview with Just the News a few weeks ago, said he was open to reforming some laws to better protect civil liberties.

"The Constitution provides us a level of privacy, and there are protections that are built into the Constitution. But you know, this has gotten out of hand," Johnson told Just the News. "... I think, I think the time has come for us to reevaluate."

Graham explained the reason why senators included the provision in last week's spending bill, saying both a federal law and a contract required Smith to notify the Senate sergeant at arms when gathering lawmakers' phone records. He also revealed that even Senate Democrat Leader Chuck Schumer was supportive.

"We wanted to make sure that the statute that prohibited data from being sent to a court or the executive branch without notice to the Senate has teeth," Graham said. "It's a law on the books about the sergeant of arms, but it doesn't have a remedy. A right without a remedy is meaningless. So we created a remedy.

"If your records were subpoenaed, and they didn't tell you, as the law requires them to tell you the phone company or the executive branch, then you have a cause of action," he added. "And the goal is to make it hard in the future to issue subpoenas against other branches of government, violating separation powers, violating privacy. If the government can get away with this, they'll keep doing it."

Graham said his goal now is to introduce new legislation that would expand the ability to sue beyond US senators to any conservative group or individual that was improperly targeted by Smith.

Graham also made clear he intends to seek punishment against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who issued an order allowing Smith not to inform the Senate about the phone record seizure on the grounds that the senators might try to destroy the evidence.

Graham said the judge's reasoning was ludicrous, since the phone companies – and not the senators – possessed the records.

"He issued that order without any factual basis. I think that's legal slander," the senator said.

"If he just signed off and said, I'm doing this because they're all Republicans, which I think is what happened, then he should not be in his job," he added. "But there are many ways to go after this. You can take people's law license for abuse of privilege, you can file a complaint against a judge. You can impeach a judge. And also, if your privacy has been violated by the government, you can sue for the harm done.

"And I am telling you right now, I'm going to sue the phone company, and I'm going to sue the Biden Jack Smith DOJ for violating my personal rights and the office I hold," he also said.