WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith obtained draft fundraising messages and donor details tied to hundreds of President Trump’s supporters after the 2020 election, according to documents reviewed by The Post.
The records indicate that Smith’s team collected information on prospective contributors to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee (TMAGAC) through draft appeals in which Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) urged supporters to donate as “2020 Election Day Donors.”
The materials were gathered during the FBI’s “Arctic Frost” investigation into Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results — a probe that ultimately examined events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Cruz was among the Republican senators who declined to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory. He told The Post that investigators obtained personal information belonging to as many as 336 Texans solely because they were “exercising their constitutional right to participate in the political process.”
“Arctic Frost represents the most egregious abuse of power in the history of the Department of Justice,” Cruz said. “We still do not know the full extent of these and related violations, but we do know that there has been vastly insufficient accountability for the violations we do know about.”
Early in the investigation, federal authorities also sought Cruz’s cellphone call records and metadata from AT&T, but the carrier rejected the request.
Verizon, however, provided records involving other lawmakers. A federal judge also approved a non-disclosure order that kept secret a subpoena seeking the phones’ so-called “toll analysis.”
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Cruz said the alleged overreach in the “Arctic Frost” investigation would be remembered as “Joe Biden’s Watergate.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the newest documents through protected disclosures from whistleblowers.
“My colleague, Senator Cruz, was right to remind Americans of President Trump’s work to strengthen our economy, stop socialism and stand up to Iran,” Grassley said.
“Republicans remain united in our support for America’s national security and economic freedom,” he added. “Despite Jack Smith’s attempt to throw him in prison, President Trump is still fighting for these America First principles today.”
According to subpoena returns released earlier this month by Grassley, the committee’s top Republican, Smith’s office obtained information on as many as 639,000 Republican donors, voters and supporters.
The group included Americans who contributed as little as $1 to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, as well as people who bought red “Make America Great Again” hats from vendors that directed proceeds to the 45th president’s campaign.
Grassley has repeatedly described Smith’s investigation as a “fishing expedition,” arguing that it reached beyond Trump and his allies to encompass the broader Republican Party fundraising and political network.
