Rick Scott, Byron Donalds slam investigators who subpoenaed GOP Senators’ phone records

Investigators in a federal case against President Donald Trump obtained phone records for at least nine numbers tied to U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, Senate Republicans say.

At a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, Scott decried the Arctic Frost investigation as a weaponization of the Justice Department against Republican elected officials. “Basically, they want to shut us all up,” the Naples Republican said. “They want to shut us up and put us in prison. That’s what they want to do.”

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Senator and close ally of Scott, informed Florida’s senior Senator last week that he believed Special Counsel Jack Smith, during President Joe Biden’s term, had targeted Scott along with several other GOP Senators. Smith led two federal cases against Trump connected to attempts to overturn the 2020 Election.

“It’s not that Senator Scott’s telephone number showed up in a bunch of other places. No, his telephone number was on the subpoena,” Johnson said. “That’s how they issued them. The subpoena didn’t name him. They just issued a subpoena with, I think, in his case, there were nine or 10 different phone numbers we’re trying to track down. We got a number of subpoenas yesterday, with more phone numbers we’re trying to track down. Some of these are already phone numbers that are no longer in service.”

Johnson said U.S. District Judge James Boasberg authorized Smith to subpoena Verizon directly for the records. Verizon turned over records, even though AT&T refused similar demands for phone records, Johnson said.

Last month, Johnson and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said the FBI had found nine Republican Senators as subjects of the investigation. That list included Johnson but not Scott. But when Johnson obtained the subpoena documents, he said he recognized one number as belonging to Scott.

“I call Rick Scott a fair amount, so I recognize his phone number, and that’s why he was notified so quickly,” Johnson said. But he believes other Republican Senators may also have been targeted in the investigation.

Notably, no charges were ever brought against U.S. Senators, even as Smith indicted Trump.

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Naples Republican, appeared with Johnson and Scott at the press conference. He has called for individuals connected to Smith’s investigation to be held legally accountable.

“Operation Arctic Frost and everything that occurred under it was a scheme to investigate, to basically sideline, to suppress, to diminish Republican Senators and other Republicans in our country,” Donalds said. “The reason why they sought to do this is because they wanted to maintain political control over Washington, D.C.”

Scott, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, said he wants disbarment proceedings against Smith and for Boasberg to be impeached. Donalds said he is pushing for the House to begin impeachment proceedings.

All three Republican officials brushed off questions about whether Trump’s claims that the election was stolen were valid. Donalds said there were clearly “irregularities” and that Trump had a right to challenge the election results. Both Donalds and Scott voted against certifying the election results, declaring Biden the winner of the Electoral College, and cast their votes against certification after rioters stormed the Capitol to disrupt the process.

But Donalds said if people want to revisit the 2020 Election, the outcome should be considered.

“What did they do with the results of the 2020 Election? They put in a President of the United States who had no mental capability to do the job,” he said.