The fight between Senate Republicans and former Special Counsel Jack Smith has taken a new turn, with lawmakers now zeroing in on Verizon’s handling of a 2023 subpoena tied to the “Arctic Frost” investigation. On Thursday, July 30, 2026, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to Verizon CEO Daniel Schulman demanding a full explanation of why the company failed to disclose the subpoena to Congress and whether it should have notified affected senators sooner.
What Is the Jack Smith Verizon Subpoena Dispute About?
The dispute centers on a May 25, 2023, grand jury subpoena that Jack Smith’s team sent to Verizon as part of Operation Arctic Frost, the FBI’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The subpoena sought toll records — call metadata that excludes the actual content of conversations — connected to two Senate Sergeant at Arms phone lines, one belonging to Sen. Ted Cruz and the other to Sen. Lindsey Graham.
According to Grassley, the core issue is not whether Verizon complied with the subpoena, but what the company knew afterward, whether it should have notified Congress, and why the subpoena did not surface when Grassley’s office first asked Verizon in 2023 to search its records for all Justice Department requests tied to Senate devices between January 2016 and October 2023.
Verizon’s Contractual Obligation to Notify the Senate
Grassley’s letter points to a May 22, 2022, contract between the Senate and Verizon that created an affirmative notification requirement for Senate devices. Under that agreement, Verizon was required to alert the Senate Sergeant at Arms whenever a member’s office was subject to a subpoena. Grassley’s office says those terms applied directly to the May 25, 2023, Arctic Frost subpoena — and that Verizon failed to perform that notification.
A federal statute also permits, rather than bars, carriers from notifying a Senate office about a subpoena, which lawmakers argue makes Verizon’s silence even harder to justify.
Grassley’s Letter and the August 13, 2026 Deadline
In the July 30, 2026 letter, Grassley and 15 other senators pressed Verizon leadership — including Schulman, Vandana Venkatesh, Hans Vestberg, and Craig Silliman — to explain exactly when they were first informed about the May 2023 subpoena and when they discovered that Verizon had transmitted “tolling data” tied to members of Congress to Smith’s team. The letter gives Verizon until August 13, 2026, to respond with a full timeline.
Grassley wrote that the new information “raises questions as to whether Verizon discovered legal process from DOJ for Senate devices and lines, including the May 2023 Arctic Frost subpoena,” during its earlier search covering October 1, 2019, through October 27, 2023.
Background: The Arctic Frost Investigation and Telecom Subpoenas
Operation Arctic Frost was the FBI’s codename for its investigation into 2020 election interference, an inquiry that eventually placed Jack Smith at the helm as special counsel. As part of that probe, prosecutors issued subpoenas to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile for phone toll records tied to members of Congress and other Republican figures. Several conservative organizations were also swept into the records requests, including Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
Grassley’s office says its oversight team has identified at least 84 subpoenas sent to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile as part of Arctic Frost, with at least 10 of those subpoenas targeting toll records associated with 20 current or former Republican members of Congress. The telecom companies have not independently confirmed that full tally.
Separately, on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing where executives from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon testified about their decision to comply with Smith’s records requests. Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose own records were among those subpoenaed, called the situation “a major breakdown of constitutional checks and balances” during that hearing.
AT&T’s Own Disclosure Reversal
Verizon is not the only carrier facing scrutiny. AT&T initially told Grassley’s office it had not provided any information to Jack Smith relating to a member of Congress. The company later amended that answer, acknowledging in November 2025 that it had in fact responded to a subpoena connected to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Expanded Subpoenas from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
The pressure on telecom companies escalated further when Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, issued subpoenas to AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen seeking records that identify the full scope of individuals whose phone data Jack Smith’s team targeted, including members of Congress. Grassley joined Johnson on the cover letters to the three companies.
Johnson said his office and Grassley’s have identified hundreds of individuals and entities swept into what they describe as Smith’s “massive partisan dragnet,” and that they expect the new subpoenas to reveal even more affected people.
What Happens Next
Verizon has until August 13, 2026, to respond to Grassley’s latest letter with a detailed account of what its leadership knew and when. Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans have described the broader Arctic Frost affair as “worse than Watergate,” and further hearings are expected as lawmakers continue to press all three major carriers for complete records. Fox News Digital has reached out to both Verizon and counsel for Jack Smith for comment; neither had issued a public response as of this writing.
Stay tuned as this story develops — bookmark this page and check back for the latest updates on the Jack Smith Verizon subpoena dispute.