Jack Smith secretly seized the phone records of 20 current and former Republican lawmakers – and not one of them knew it happened.
Now Mike Lee has the bill that makes sure no future DOJ can run that play again.
What Verizon did when Smith came knocking is something your senator still hasn't gotten a straight answer about.
Jack Smith Used Non-Disclosure Orders to Secretly Seize Republican Phone Records
Jack Smith didn't just subpoena Republican phone records during Arctic Frost.
He buried every subpoena under a Non-Disclosure Order – a court-issued gag that legally silenced phone carriers from ever telling their customers the government had been inside their records.
In May 2023, Smith's office subpoenaed phone lines belonging to Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham.
Verizon was bound by a 2022 contract with the Senate Sergeant at Arms that required notification the moment any lawmaker's line was targeted – a protection written specifically to prevent silent surveillance of Congress.
Verizon said nothing.
When Chuck Grassley's investigators pressed them, Verizon said they lacked the internal systems to flag congressional numbers until February 2025 – two full years after Smith had already gotten what he needed.
AT&T initially told Congress it had never turned over records tied to members of Congress, then reversed that answer after finding it had complied with a subpoena connected to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The judges signing off on the NDOs – including Democrat Judge Boasberg – were handed paperwork without being told the targets were sitting members of Congress.
Grassley said from the Senate floor: the court "essentially acted as a rubber stamp."
Grassley's investigators also surfaced a May 2023 internal email in which a member of Smith's own team was warned by a senior DOJ official that subpoenaing congressional records risked violating the Speech or Debate Clause – the constitutional protection that shields lawmakers from executive branch retaliation.
Smith did it anyway.
The NDO Fairness Act Would End Biden-Style Government Surveillance of Congress
Mike Lee's bill attacks the mechanism directly.
Under current law, a Non-Disclosure Order can last indefinitely.
Smith's office followed a DOJ policy capping them at one year – but that policy has no judicial review and no enforcement.
The NDO Fairness Act changes all of that.
NDOs would expire after 90 days – the same limit applied to physical search warrants.
Before issuing any NDO, a judge would be required to submit written findings based on specific, articulable facts – not a rubber-stamp signature on a form the DOJ slid across the bench.
Phone carriers would gain the legal standing to challenge NDOs in court – the option Verizon and AT&T didn't have when Smith came for congressional records.
Prosecutors would have to disclose whether the target of the investigation even knows they are being investigated.
"The government should not be able to hide domestic spying activities behind Non-Disclosure Orders, especially outrageous partisan abuses like Arctic Frost," Lee told the Washington Free Beacon.
This fight is not new.
Lee introduced an earlier version of this bill in 2022 alongside the late Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The House passed a companion bill that year by bipartisan voice vote.
Democrats in the Senate killed it.
Now Lee is back with Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware as co-sponsor, the House Judiciary Committee passed the current version unanimously in November 2025, and sources familiar with the process say there is "no opposition."
Arctic Frost Accountability Stalls as House Vote Remains Unscheduled
Every Republican whose records were seized supports this legislation.
The Trump White House is fully behind it – specifically because they don't want a future DOJ run by Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison using the same playbook against Republicans.
"If Jack Smith can do it, the next one can do it," a Trump administration official told the Washington Free Beacon. "And that's what we're worried about."
Jim Jordan said: "The NDO Fairness Act takes a critical step to rein in this surveillance overreach. It forces the government to justify how long the order can last and makes sure those affected are notified."
The House floor vote was scheduled for February, then delayed by a partial government shutdown.
The Daily Caller asked Speaker Johnson's office for a timeline.
Johnson's office didn't respond.
Jack Smith vacuumed up the phone records of senators, House members, and now-FBI Director Kash Patel – all under secret court orders, all with gag orders keeping the targets in the dark.
Verizon had a contract that was supposed to stop exactly that.
They ignored it – and Congress still hasn't voted on the bill that closes the door.
Sources:
- Adam Kredo, "Mike Lee Pushes To Stop Feds From Seizing Phone Records Without Notifying Subject in Wake of Biden Admin's Arctic Frost Investigation," Washington Free Beacon, April 29, 2026.
- Nick Naulty, "Lawmakers Agree Jack Smith's Arctic Frost Should Never Happen Again – Despite Delay On Action," Daily Caller News Foundation, April 30, 2026.
- Chuck Grassley, "Grassley Releases New Arctic Frost Records, Raising Additional Questions about Jack Smith's Conduct and Candor," U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, March 24, 2026.
- Chuck Grassley, "Grassley Demands Answers from Telecom Companies Who Turned Congressional Phone Records Over to Jack Smith," U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, March 20, 2026.
- "Senators Lee, Coons Introduce Bipartisan NDO Fairness Act," Office of Sen. Mike Lee, January 15, 2026.
