Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released internal DOJ messages todayrevealing significant document security failures by personnel within Jack Smith’s Special Counsel Office (SCO) during the classified documents investigation and prosecution of President Donald J. Trump.
These messages are particularly damning, they embody the very same conduct Smith’s team was aggressively prosecuting.
While Smith relentlessly pursued Trump for allegedly mishandling classified materials after leaving office, behind the scenes members of his own team committed the very same offenses as early as July 2023.
The disclosures show they granted access to classified information without verifying a “need to know,” including instances where unauthorized investigators were given access.
Separately, internal communications show Smith’s team failed to properly track classified materials moved inside a SCIF. Most alarmingly, they left a secure facility unsecured and accessible overnight, possibly longer, an incident that was internally flagged as a formal “violation and incident.”
On April 19, 2024, one team member noted, “No one closed it the day before.” Carli Rodriguez-Feo responded: “That’s a violation and incident so I need to know the details.” The exchange also highlighted limited oversight, stating: “Now that Raskin and Brett are gone, I’m very limited in help with oversight.”
One message from August goes as far as to ask if Jack Smith is “assistant-less.”
This recent finding further validates the double standard the public has witnessed from the inception of this investigation.
Trump faced criminal charges, while high-profile Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden sat back and faced no serious legal consequences whatsoever for their own documented mishandling of classified information.
They certainly were not dragged by the media, nor were they subjected to the same aggressive investigating, indictment, or relentless public prosecution as Trump.
This has left the American public asking: why the rules seem to apply to some, but not others, when national security is involved?
The DOJ, now under President Donald J. Trump, produced these messages in response to Sen. Grassley’s ongoing oversight demands to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley has long sought records tied to Special Counsel Smith’s investigations under the Arctic Frost probe, reviewed the files and released key portions today in a letter to Acting AG Todd Blanche.
Senator Grassley’s letter has demanded detailed answers from the DOJ no later than July 22, 2026 regarding the newly disclosed materials.
Unanswered questions include whether the SCIF held materials tied to President Trump’s case, if classified information was compromised, whether any staff faced discipline, if internal probes were launched, and whether Trump’s defense team or the court received notification.
The DOJ and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche are expected to respond. Depending on the answers, this could lead to additional hearings, further document releases, or potential referrals. No immediate prosecutions are anticipated from these disclosures alone.
Since late 2025, Senator Grassley has released multiple batches of documents on Jack Smith’s team, triggering hearings that exposed the Biden-Harris administration’s aggressive campaign to spy on Republican lawmakers, their aides, and key allies like Kash Patel. This latest finding further validates the blatant double standard the public has witnessed from the outset of this investigation.
