Sen. Graham Seeks Legal Path for Americans Targeted in Jack Smith Dragnet

By John Solomon | Just the News

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, tells Just the News he is planning to introduce legislation to allow any Americans, not just senators, whose privacy was violated by ex-Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s sweeping investigation into conservatives to sue the government for damages.

During an interview on the John Solomon Reports podcast, the South Carolina Republican explained why senators slipped into last week’s spending bill that reopened the federal government a provision allowing eight senators whose phone records were subpoenaed by Smith to sue for damages.

He also pushed back against House Republicans such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, who have threatened to strip the provision through future legislative action.

Graham said that House members shouldn’t strip the provision but rather expand it to all individuals and groups impacted by Smith’s investigation, and he plans to introduce such legislation in the next few days, possibly with supportive House members. 

“We should expand accountability, not shrink it. You know, Republicans are frustrated with members of Congress at times because we don’t fight back,” Graham said.

“And I hear some Republicans say, ‘Well, you know you shouldn’t sue the government.’ If you want to live in a country where you can’t sue the government when you’re wronged, be my guest. You better move from America,” he added. “As long as I’m around, if the government does you wrong, I don’t care who you are, from high to low, anywhere in between, you can go to court and hold them accountable. The day you can’t do that, the day you can’t sue the government who’s wronged you, then you’ve lost your freedom.”

Johnson, the House speaker, was reportedly angered to learn that senators had slipped the provision into last week’s spending bill and has vowed to pass legislation to reverse it, citing concerns about changing law retroactively to create penalties for events that occurred in the past. 

But Graham’s solution to expand the provision beyond senators to everyday Americans could have some appeal in the GOP-led House. Even Johnson, in an interview with Just the News a few weeks ago, said he was open to reforming some laws to better protect civil liberties.

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