Entire Middle Tennessee Federal Bench Recuses From Marsha Blackburn’s Lawsuit Against Jack Smith

Adriana Stone 0 2 min read

Entire Middle Tennessee Federal Bench Recuses From Marsha Blackburn’s Lawsuit Against Jack Smith

Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s civil rights lawsuit against former Special Counsel Jack Smith has taken an unusual turn. Every sitting district judge in the Middle District of Tennessee has recused from the case, leaving the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to bring in a judge from outside the district.

Chief Judge William L. Campbell, Jr. signed a one-page order on October 5, 2026, in Blackburn v. Smith. The court did not provide a reason for the mass recusal. The order stated:

“All District Judges of the Middle District of Tennessee have recused in this matter. As such, a District Judge from outside the District will be designated by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. When the designation is made, the case will be reassigned.”

The immediate result is clear: the case will remain with the clerk until the Sixth Circuit selects a district judge from somewhere else in the circuit. No judge from the Middle District of Tennessee will handle the matter at this stage.

SCOTUS Wire highlighted the development on October 5:

SCOTUS Wire post

The docket shows the judges did not all recuse at precisely the same time. An individual recusal order was entered on October 2. By Monday afternoon, Campbell had certified that the entire district bench was out of the case.

That sequence came as Smith had already waived service. The waiver was filed on the same morning that the full-bench recusal order was entered, adding another notable development as the lawsuit moves forward.

Blackburn filed the lawsuit in late September after reports that Smith’s team obtained her private cell phone records from Verizon. The lawsuit focuses on the alleged use of secret nondisclosure orders during the Arctic Frost investigation, which targeted conservatives and President Trump.

According to the report, the nondisclosure orders were used to conceal the fact that investigators were seeking records belonging to a sitting Republican senator. Blackburn’s case argues that the conduct effectively stripped her of protections under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.

The report also says that when Smith’s team went to a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to obtain the nondisclosure order, the team reportedly concealed that the subpoena targeted a Republican member of Congress. Those allegations are central to Blackburn’s claim that federal power was used against her while the investigation was hidden from public view.

Blackburn described the purpose of the case in comments to Fox News Digital:

“This lawsuit is solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable and ensuring that our nation’s justice system can never again be weaponized against the American people,” Blackburn told Fox News Digital.

“Through his Arctic Frost witch-hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the president of the United States, Jack Smith perpetrated one of the worst abuses of government power in our nation’s history.”

The lawsuit also challenges Smith’s authority to wield the power he used. The report states that Smith was never lawfully nominated by the President or confirmed by the U.S. Senate for that role.

For now, the legal fight is paused while the Sixth Circuit chooses an outside judge. The Middle District’s entire bench has stepped aside, and the next major move will come from the appellate court’s designation.

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