BS BULLETIN:
- Sen. John Kennedy accused Jack Smith of failing to tell a judge that his team was seeking members of Congress’s phone records.
- Kennedy’s questioning turned personal: “You make me want to throw up in my mouth.”
- The hearing also brought fresh scrutiny of donor records, lawmakers’ texts and Smith’s defense of his Trump investigations.
Sen. John Kennedy had a question for Jack Smith about the phone records of members of Congress. Then he had a verdict on the former special counsel.
Kennedy: “You make me want to throw up in my mouth” pic.twitter.com/bNo6WjUqHh
— thedailybs w/ Snerdley (@thedailybs_Bo) September 29, 2026
“When you went to Judge Boasberg, you didn’t even tell him you were seeking the phone records of members of Congress, did you?” Kennedy asked at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. He accused Smith of withholding that detail because the judge would have objected.
Smith began to answer that his team had sought nondisclosure orders from the court. Kennedy pressed on: “But you didn’t tell him, did you? We sought non-disclosure orders from the court. You didn’t tell him, but you’re unbiased. You have no personal feelings. You make me want to throw up in my mouth.”
Sen. Dick Durbin objected that Smith should be allowed to finish an answer. Kennedy, whose time had expired, asked the chairman to keep Smith from filibustering: “He’s not Bambi’s baby brother, okay? He’s been around.”
The dispute goes beyond that exchange. Smith confirmed that his team obtained lawmakers’ toll records—information such as who called whom and how long a call lasted—and said they were relevant to investigating Trump’s conduct on January 6. He said those phone subpoenas did not capture call contents or involve wiretaps. Separately, records obtained from the National Archives included texts involving 44 members of Congress. Kennedy’s charge about what Smith disclosed to Judge Boasberg remains an allegation from his questioning, not a finding established at the hearing.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley raised another number: more than 4,700 donor checks he said Smith’s team obtained, including small-dollar donations. He argued the investigation gathered personal information on thousands of Republicans and accused Smith of “mapping out the Republican apparatus.” Smith said his duty was to collect facts for a criminal investigation. Grassley also questioned communications involving reporters that he said were swept up in the probe.
Smith rejected the partisan-motive charge. He told senators his team had developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump committed serious crimes and said he would make the same prosecution decision regardless of party. Durbin defended Smith and accused Republicans of manufacturing a controversy. Trump pleaded not guilty in both federal cases; neither reached trial.
MY QUICK TAKE
Kennedy’s line will own the clip. The question that should outlast it is simpler: when prosecutors collect a lawmaker’s records, exactly what did they seek, what did they tell the court, and who checked their work? Smith has an answer for why the records mattered. Kennedy wants an answer for how they were obtained. Congress ought to get both.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee — September 29 hearing judiciary.senate.gov
- CBS News — Live hearing updates cbsnews.com
- The Washington Post — Smith clashes with senators over Trump probes
