Senators subpoenaed in election interference probe can sue under shutdown bill
- - Senators subpoenaed in election interference probe can sue under shutdown bill
Bart Jansen, USA TODAY November 12, 2025 at 12:25 AM
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WASHINGTON − The compromise legislation to reopen the government includes a provision allowing senators whose phone records were subpoenaed during the Justice Department investigation of alleged election interference to each sue the government for up to $500,000.
Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed the phone records of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming during his investigation of President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
None of the senators were charged. Smith dropped charges against Trump after he was elected president a second time, under longstanding department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
says on its website that it will use money from the last fiscal year’s budget to stay open at least through Monday, Oct. 6.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>People visit the Smithsonian National Zoo as the US government is shut down for the second day on October 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. Efforts to swiftly end the US government shutdown collapsed October 1, 2025 as Democrats in Congress went home without resolving an acrimonious funding stand-off with President Donald Trump and the White House threatened public sector jobs. Smithsonian institutions receive federal funding and shut down during a federal government. The Smithsonian, a federal government entity, says on its website that it will use money from the last fiscal year’s budget to stay open at least through Monday, Oct. 6.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/KupOsmziZybLO6wKJI9Pfw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/ed2d9d81779f0650ffe5d3965b4c7974 class=caas-img data-headline="See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay open" data-caption="
People visit the Smithsonian National Zoo as the US government is shut down for the second day on October 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. Efforts to swiftly end the US government shutdown collapsed October 1, 2025 as Democrats in Congress went home without resolving an acrimonious funding stand-off with President Donald Trump and the White House threatened public sector jobs. Smithsonian institutions receive federal funding and shut down during a federal government. The Smithsonian, a federal government entity, says on its website that it will use money from the last fiscal year’s budget to stay open at least through Monday, Oct. 6.
">People visit the Smithsonian National Zoo as the US government is shut down for the second day on October 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. Efforts to swiftly end the US government shutdown collapsed October 1, 2025 as Democrats in Congress went home without resolving an acrimonious funding stand-off with President Donald Trump and the White House threatened public sector jobs. Smithsonian institutions receive federal funding and shut down during a federal government. The Smithsonian, a federal government entity, says on its website that it will use money from the last fiscal year’s budget to stay open at least through Monday, Oct. 6.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/KupOsmziZybLO6wKJI9Pfw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/ed2d9d81779f0650ffe5d3965b4c7974 class=caas-img>A would-be visitor looks into the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum which is closed, on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, in Boston, Mass. on Oct.1, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/RSy7OWMRPLHOjx2v48btSw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2579ccd4956d82246023f21d46a3a931 class=caas-img data-headline="See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay open" data-caption="
A would-be visitor looks into the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum which is closed, on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, in Boston, Mass. on Oct.1, 2025.
">A would-be visitor looks into the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum which is closed, on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, in Boston, Mass. on Oct.1, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/RSy7OWMRPLHOjx2v48btSw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2579ccd4956d82246023f21d46a3a931 class=caas-img>
People wait in line to enter the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California on October 1, 2025, where services are experiencing significant disruptions due to the federal government shutdown, as essential workers continue working without pay and non-essential federal workers are furloughed.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TlKxltNR5uq3ezWJ2aLDSw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD03NTk-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/7d90ab49deeb40d61194ef5bf30a475a class=caas-img data-headline="See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay open" data-caption="
People wait in line to enter the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California on October 1, 2025, where services are experiencing significant disruptions due to the federal government shutdown, as essential workers continue working without pay and non-essential federal workers are furloughed.
">People wait in line to enter the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California on October 1, 2025, where services are experiencing significant disruptions due to the federal government shutdown, as essential workers continue working without pay and non-essential federal workers are furloughed.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/TlKxltNR5uq3ezWJ2aLDSw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD03NTk-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/7d90ab49deeb40d61194ef5bf30a475a class=caas-img>The United States Park Service place a notice on the visitors entry door notifying of the closing of the Washington Monument to visitors on the first day of the federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/cyzHTQnyBlX1Ih7lAL9zsg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05NTQ-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/dcce01f026b5086ec1afcf2231cb4468 class=caas-img data-headline="See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay open" data-caption="
The United States Park Service place a notice on the visitors entry door notifying of the closing of the Washington Monument to visitors on the first day of the federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025.
">The United States Park Service place a notice on the visitors entry door notifying of the closing of the Washington Monument to visitors on the first day of the federal government shutdown on October 1, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/cyzHTQnyBlX1Ih7lAL9zsg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD05NTQ-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/dcce01f026b5086ec1afcf2231cb4468 class=caas-img>Members of the National Guard patrol along the grounds of the US Capitol on the first day of the US government shutdown in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2025. Essential services, like military and law enforcement, remain working.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/j5WFjaY3QEPqAF7wezt6Vw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2c06392f3f49b76872a5bcc2c2ae4510 class=caas-img data-headline="See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay open" data-caption="
Members of the National Guard patrol along the grounds of the US Capitol on the first day of the US government shutdown in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2025. Essential services, like military and law enforcement, remain working.
">Members of the National Guard patrol along the grounds of the US Capitol on the first day of the US government shutdown in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2025. Essential services, like military and law enforcement, remain working.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/j5WFjaY3QEPqAF7wezt6Vw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/2c06392f3f49b76872a5bcc2c2ae4510 class=caas-img>
A man walks across the otherwise empty U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, closed to the public on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., October 1, 2025.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/aSS5DqPiUnFCsgkrh3FeZA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD03Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/e4f8c6ae1ca78c0535276046f6964703 class=caas-img data-headline="See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay open" data-caption="
A man walks across the otherwise empty U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, closed to the public on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., October 1, 2025.
">A man walks across the otherwise empty U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, closed to the public on the first day of a partial U.S. government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., October 1, 2025.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/aSS5DqPiUnFCsgkrh3FeZA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD03Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/e4f8c6ae1ca78c0535276046f6964703 class=caas-img>
1 / 41See the impact of the government shutdown as agencies shutter or fight to stay openTravelers wait in line at a security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois on November 7 2025. Hundreds of flights were canceled across the United States on Friday after the Trump administration ordered reductions to ease strain on air traffic controllers who are working without pay amid congressional paralysis on funding the US budget. Forty airports were due to slow down, including the giant hubs in Atlanta, Newark, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.
The legislation waives the government’s immunity from lawsuits for the subpoenas, after the Senate Judiciary Committee publicized the subpoenas recently.
"What I’ve uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in revealing the subpoenas Oct. 6.
Graham called the investigation a coup on Fox News and told conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt the probe "stinks to high heaven." Blackburn and others have demanded hearings on the investigation.
Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith arrives to make a statement to reporters about the 37 federal charges returned by a grand jury in an indictment of former President Donald Trump on charges of unauthorized retention of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice at Smith' offices in Washington, D.C. on June 9, 2023.
But Smith's lawyers said the subpoenas were revealed in a footnote of his report detailing the results of his investigation. In an Oct. 21 letter to Grassley, Smith's lawyers said the subpoenas were narrowly tailored to cover a couple of days before and after the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. The records covered the phone numbers involved, the length and time of calls, Smith wrote.
"The subpoena’s limited temporal range is consistent with a focused effort to confirm or refute reports by multiple news outlets that during and after the January 6 riots at the Capitol, President Trump and his surrogates attempted to call Senators to urge them to delay certification of the 2020 election results," wrote lawyers Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski.
A new ad airing Nov. 11 in Indianapolis from conservative nonprofit Club for Growth, pictured here on a laptop screen, urges voters to tell their state senators to support President Donald Trump's redistricting push.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, called the legislative provision "outrageous" on social media Nov. 11 and a way for Trump to "write a check of millions of dollars" to senators who would get rich off "taxpayer money."
The bill comes after Trump sued the government seeking $230 million for the same investigation.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shutdown bill allows senators to sue over subpoenaed phone records
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