Ex-special counsel Jack Smith obtained personal info on 639K Republicans— including red MAGA hat buyers
WASHINGTON — Ex-special counsel Jack Smith obtained personal information on 639,000 Republican donors, voters and supporters — including some who contributed as little as $1 or bought “red MAGA hats” — according to subpoena returns obtained by a Senate Republican committee.
In a Wednesday memo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) disclosed the details of data Smith’s office received, denouncing the former prosecutor of President Trump for “abuse of authority.”
More than 148,000 rows on spreadsheets containing the findings, including donors from 2005 to 2021.
Dates of birth, home addresses, email addresses, Republican party registration, information about credit cards or employment history were also hoovered up.
“This update shows that Jack Smith and the Biden Justice Department collected incredibly invasive donor data — and voter data — beyond what could conceivably be necessary for Smith or his team to fulfill the Special Counsel’s mandate,” Grassley wrote in the memo.
“The new findings further corroborate that Smith and his partisan team aimed to map out the entire Republican Party apparatus,” he added.
That included names of Republican campaign aides and volunteers, as well as party donors who contributed anywhere between $1 and $1,000.
Information on red Make America Great Again hats was also shared, including the buyers’ names and home addresses.
Smith’s office further collected 2024 “Trump campaign products including these red hats, t-shirts, mugs, and door mats,” the memo noted.
Whistleblowers disclosed the new info about the wide net the special counsel cast, as Smith was gearing up to indict Trump for attempting to reverse Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
That probe, which began as an FBI investigation codenamed “Arctic Frost,” has been cited by Republicans as having committed Watergate-level abuses against politicians — including many who had their phone calls and text messages obtained without their knowledge — and party allies.
“I again call on my Democratic colleagues to join my oversight work instead of trying to defend Smith and sweep his abuse of authority under the rug,” Grassley said in the memo to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Lawyers for Smith did not respond to a request for comment.