Jack Smith Answers U.S. Senator Who Says “He Should Never Be Able to Practice Law Again”

Former special counsel Jack Smith’s team answered accusations by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), labeling the lawmaker’s attempt to have Smith disbarred a “retaliatory political stunt.” Smith’s characterization came in a Nov. 3 letter to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, as first reported by Politico on Friday. 

Hagerty’s complaint is “meritless” and “retaliates against Mr. Smith’s exercise of his right to free speech,” Smith’s lawyers argue. At issue is Smith’s subpoenaing of the phone records of certain lawmakers, including U.S. Senators, in his investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

[NOTE: Smith contends that the secrecy order on the subpoenas was meant to keep Trump from interfering with the investigation.]

Hagerty filed the complaint Sept. 30, a day after Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I filed a bar complaint against Jack Smith this morning,” he wrote. “He’s a blatantly partisan actor and his prosecutorial misconduct damaged our constitutional order. He should never be able to practice law again.”

Hagerty says Smith obtained toll records of Republican lawmakers, got nondisclosure orders that kept phone companies from telling them, and left the court unaware the subpoenas targeted members of Congress. Smith does not dispute obtaining the records and nondisclosure orders, but maintains that his investigation was lawful.

Hagerty asked the board to “pursue the most serious remedy possible — disbarment.” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has also said Smith’s team obtained communications from more than a dozen media outlets. The day before the filing, Hagerty told Grassley that “Arctic Frost was worse than Watergate. Jack Smith and those complicit in his scheme must be held accountable.” 

Neither Hagerty nor the board answered Politico’s request for comment. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee’s governor-elect, has separately sued Smith and the Justice Department, seeking destruction of any remaining copies of her phone records.