Smith’s Secret Subpoena Hits Trump Ally

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Smith’s Secret Subpoena Hits Trump Ally

Jack Smith quietly went after Phill Kline. He subpoenaed Kline’s phone records tied to the push to contest the 2020 election. The move is part of what prosecutors call “Operation Arctic Frost.”

Kline — now a Liberty University Law professor and once head of the Amistad Project at the Thomas More Society — led outside legal challenges after the 2020 vote. He wasn’t in the White House. He was doing the legal work from the sidelines. Yet his telecom records were targeted.

The subpoena covered the period from October 2020 to January 31, 2021. Prosecutors asked Verizon for subscriber info, inbound and outbound call logs, texts, voicemails, payment records, other numbers tied to the account and IP addresses used by Verizon-connected devices. The special counsel’s office reportedly contacted Verizon on August 1, 2023, to enforce the grand jury order.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has raised the alarm about the scope. “I’ve obtained through legally protected whistleblower disclosures,” Grassley said during a press conference last year. “197 subpoenas were issued by Jack Smith and his team. These subpoenas were issued to 34 individuals and 163 businesses, including financial institutions.” Those numbers, if accurate, suggest a wide net that swept in legal experts and conservative organizations.

The probe into alternate electors and related post-election activity led to the Arctic Frost investigation. The special counsel’s team reportedly issued hundreds of subpoenas tied to that effort. Documents shared with outlets show Kline was among roughly 430 individuals and groups subpoenaed.

Critics call the operation a partisan dragnet. They point out that lawyering and political organizing around an election are normal parts of the system. Supporters of the subpoenas say investigators needed records to follow leads. Either way, the fight over scope and tactics is playing out in court and in public.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said investigators seized President Donald Trump’s government-issued phone during the Arctic Frost investigation. Reports also say the special counsel sought President Donald Trump’s personal records.

Verizon notified the Kline family in February that the Senate had the documents and that an earlier subpoena from the special counsel had compelled production. The order was signed by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg.

This episode raises questions about how broadly prosecutors can reach into the networks of lawyers and activists who push legal challenges. For conservatives, it’s an alarming sign of how aggressively the Justice Department is probing post-2020 activity. For others, it’s a necessary step to examine the alternate-elector effort and related moves after the election.

Watch the primary source reporting and documents as they surface. Expect more fights in court over subpoenas, privileges, and what counts as protected legal work.

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