Republican Senator Flat-Out Asks Todd Blanche Multiple Times If Jack Smith Spied on His Emails: ‘Would You Check for Me?’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche multiple times if he could check to see whether former special counsel Jack Smith spied on his emails.

Kennedy pressed Blanche on Smith reading lawmaker emails during a Wednesday confirmation hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kennedy’s questions about Smith refer to documents previously released purporting to show that Smith read messages of dozens of lawmakers as part of his January 6 Capitol riot investigation.

“Did Jack Smith read my emails?” Kennedy asked Blanche.

“I’m not sure, senator. I don’t know,” Blanche said, chuckling.

Kennedy then continued pressing for an answer.

Check out the exchange below:

JOHN KENNEDY: Would you check for me?

TODD BLANCHE: We will check, senator, yes.

KENNEDY: I think he read Sen. [Chuck] Grassley’s emails. How did he — How can someone at the Department of Justice get Sen. Grasslsy’s emails without probable cause?

BLANCHE: There are checks in place that should make it extraordinarily difficult for a prosecutor to collect and review a senator’s emails or a congressman’s emails or a lawyer’s emails or other folks that have privileged protections associated with their communications. And those checks and balances should always be used.

KENNEDY: But Mr. Smith just ignored them?

BLANCHE: I cannot speak for Mr. Smith, senator.

KENNEDY: Would you check for me first if he read my emails and number two, how he got him and number three, let’s — I don’t mean to single out my friend Sen. Grassley, but what emails did he get of Sen. Grassley? And I mean, what were they limited to, if at all? Did he get emails from Sen. Grassley talking about his corn harvest and all of that? And who did he share them with? Do you know if Mr. Smith shared my emails with Attorney General [Merrick] Garland?

BLANCHE: I do not know.

KENNEDY: Can you check for me?

BLANCHE: We are investigating that, senator, yes.

KENNEDY: Yeah, I’d kinda like to know all that.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) published documents from the Department of Justice suggesting Smith read messages from 44 lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, and officials with President Donald Trump between October 2020 and January 20, 2021, the day before Trump’s second term, as part of his January 6 investigation.

Grassley accused Smith of ignoring “routine investigative protocols.

“Based on the information that’s been produced to me and Senator Johnson, Biden DOJ and FBI investigators apparently ignored their own routine investigative protocols to obtain and review work-related messages from me and dozens of my Republican and Democrat colleagues who were outside the scope of the government’s investigation,” he said in a statement.

Watch above via MS NOW.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!