Stunner: Jack Smith’s demands for telephone records ‘should alarm us all’

An expert on the U.S. Constitution, one whose advice has directed congressional opinion on those fights, is warning that Jack Smith’s demands for phone records of private individuals during his anti-Trump lawfare “should alarm us all.”

The comment comes from Jonathan Turley, who also is a highly respected law professor and whose commentary on legal and constitutional issues is sought after widely.

The issue arose because of recent reports that Smith, who was appointed by Democrats during Joe Biden’s tenure to run several of their lawfare schemes against President Donald Trump, obtained massive telephone record data. Those cases all failed.

Smith’s actions previously caused a scandal in Washington, a scandal that still isn’t resolved, when it was revealed that he had sought, through court orders, the telephone records of a long list of Republican members of Congress.

But now the latest reports confirm that Smith was targeting the telephone records of Susie Wiles, now White House chief of staff, and Kash Patel, now FBI director.

But the phone records searches were during 2022 and 2023 – when both were private citizens.

“It is only the latest example of the abuse of the investigatory powers by Special Counsel Jack Smith,” Turley said.

He opined, “Former Special Counsel Jack Smith has long operated under Oscar Wilde’s rule that ‘the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.’ Over the last few months, the public has learned of a wide array of secret orders targeting members of Congress, Trump allies, and others. Now, the administration has learned that FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Susie Wiles were also targeted by Smith in 2022 and 2023 when they were private citizens.”

He pointed out Smith’s tarnished record and reputation for using “excessive legal arguments and tactics.”

For example, he was humiliated when he obtained a conviction against former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell and a unanimous Supreme Court, even the leftists residing there, threw it out.

“His tendency to stretch the law to the breaking point also did not play well with juries in high-profile cases, as in his case against John Edwards, which ended in acquittal,” Turley wrote.

The telephone records searches were carried out by Smith under court orders that his victims not be notified.

The new disclosures of secret orders targeting now FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Susie Wiles are only the latest examples of the abuse of the investigatory powers by Special Counsel Jack Smith…

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Article Link pic.twitter.com/EgCmfjQj9W

— JohnTitor17 (@JTitor17) February 27, 2026

Kash Patel just fired (10) FBI Agents connected to Jack Smith that staged phony Documents labeled Classified at the Mar-a-Lago raid

I’m calling on @AGPamBondi to charge Jack Smith with Conspiracy to plant evidence on Trump

Who’s with me pic.twitter.com/45tBVYIyKh

— @Chicago1Ray (@Chicago1Ray) February 26, 2026

BREAKING: The Biden FBI under Christopher Wray obtained phone records from Kash Patel and Susie Wiles in 2022 and 2023, while BOTH of them were private citizens, leading to Jack Smith’s witch hunt against Trump

The amount of ROT in the FBI is INSANE.

TEN FBI employees… pic.twitter.com/3ZC3prpGw9

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 25, 2026

“Not only did such records reveal potentially confidential sources, ranging from journalists to whistleblowers, but Smith’s gag order prevented Congress from responding to check the abusive demand,” Turley said.

But he said Smith took it to a higher level when targeting private citizens Wiles and Patel, by working with the Joe Biden administration to bury the targeting.

“It took a year into the new administration for these orders to be uncovered,” he pointed out.

The spied-on calls including confidential discussions between Wiles and her lawyer.

“There is much we still do not know,” Turley said. “On its face, these orders appear consistent with the earlier abusive demands. Smith had virtually no basis for targeting Republican members and Trump allies. It was a fishing expedition in which Smith simply compiled lists of every well-known ally of President Trump.”

Turley warned, “The recently disclosed files from these investigations are an indictment of Smith himself. He was given a historic mandate to investigate a former president. Rather than exercise a modicum of restraint to show the public that this was not a partisan effort, Smith yielded to his worst temptations in targeting a long list of Republicans.”

And he said the actions aligned with Smith’s other politicization of the legal structure.

“Smith struggled to release damaging information (and even schedule a trial) on the very eve of the 2024 presidential election. Every action that Smith took only magnified his agenda to influence the election. He became a prosecutor consumed by his antagonism toward Trump and his unchecked power.

“Nothing was sacred for Smith. His demands in the investigation from the courts included a wholesale attack on free speech values.”

And Turley faulted Merrick Garland, Joe Biden’s attorney general, for refusing to oversee Smith and protect the Constitution.