Unanimous Consent Requests

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAHAM. Was this provision socialized with committees of relevant jurisdiction?

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Mr. GRAHAM. Was this issue sent to the Ethics Committee?

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Mr. GRAHAM. OK. So this wasn't Republicans doing this; this was people in the Senate believing what happened in the Senate need never happen again.

What happened in the Senate? There is a statute right on point that governs data to be released by the Sergeant at Arms, and it says in that statute: Notwithstanding a judicial order, data from the Senate cannot be released by subpoena or even a judicial order without the body being notified because of the separation of powers issue.

That statute was violated, and there is no remedy. What are we trying to do to make sure this doesn't happen again to me or you? The reason I think Senator Schumer went with Senator Thune is they are worried about the body here.

We have a contract with Verizon--the Senate does--that requires us to be notified if any Senator's phone records are requested or any member working for the body.

There were 197 subpoenas issued in Arctic Frost. There are 430 Republican groups--Turning Point USA, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorney Generals Association, the Conservative Partnership Institute, Mark Meadows, Stephen Miller--400- some groups that were targeted.

What was going on here? What was Jack Smith up to? What was he trying to do? I think what he was trying to do is use lawfare against Donald Trump. Within 3 days of saying ``I am running again for President in 2022 for the 2024 cycle,'' Jack Smith was appointed special counsel. Within 8 or 9 months, 91 charges were levied against President Trump in New York, Manhattan; Atlanta; Washington, DC; and the bluest of blue.

I wound up getting subpoenaed by Fani Willis in Fulton County and spent $1.2 million going to that grand jury, having to testify what I did as Judiciary chairman.

If you will remember, on January 6, I was actually here. I think I did my part to make sure we certified the election. I voted to certify everything.

So what is going on here? Nobody actually knows.

And to the two leaders of the body, thank you for making sure we are going to do something to protect the Senate not only from what happened to us but what could happen to anybody in the future.

This is really outrageous. You want to use that word. I am really outraged that my private cell phone and my official phone were subpoenaed without cause, that a judge would suggest that I would destroy evidence or tamper with witnesses if I were told about what was going on. I am sure the other Senators--Hagerty, Hawley, Sullivan, Tuberville, Johnson, Scott, Lummis, Blackburn, Ted Cruz, at least one staff member, the Speaker of the House. Now we know Kevin McCarthy-- they asked for his phone records the day he was sworn in as Speaker, and AT&T apparently gave them to them.

What is going on here? What did we do? This is why we need to go to court and have our day in court, and the burden will be on me that I was wrong. But there is no doubt, if you were the jury, I would have no chance. You have already judged what we are doing. You made a political statement.

So you are not the person to judge. I am not the person to judge. It is the judge.

All of us who were wronged need to have a remedy to that wrong, and we are creating a chance to go to court for what happened to us and in a fashion to make sure it never happens again. This was coordinated with people in the Senate in power. This wasn't an attempt to enrich anybody. It was an attempt to deter that what was wrong, in my view, never happens again.

I am willing to work with my colleagues about the $500,000. I am going to sue. I want to let you know. I am going to sue Biden's DOJ and Jack Smith. I am going to sue Verizon. It will be a hell of a lot more than $500,000.

This is twice that this has happened to me. I was hauled into court in Atlanta for no good reason. I spent a million dollars. And the crime is being friends of Trump, being supporters of Trump. This was an abuse of the law. This was weaponization of the law.

It is just not me. I am going to open up the ability to other people who had their phone records subpoenaed--I think, unfairly--at least, a chance to make that case. There are 197 subpoenas with 400 groups. I am going to create a statute that anybody that was in this situation could make a claim. They will have to prove the claim.

We are not going to shut this down. We are not going to act like it is OK when it is not. We are not going to say it is legal because you are a Democrat and I am a Republican. We are going to have a judge determine whether or not it was legal. I don't think it was legal at all because I know me. I have done nothing wrong here. I wasn't conspiring with anybody to overturn the election. I did my part to make sure 2020 ended the way it should have.

So to my majority leader, thank you for working with Senator Schumer. And to Senator Schumer, thanks for trying to work together to protect the body. We will be working together to find a resolution that may be more accommodating. But as for the idea that I am backing off and I am going to let this go, you can forget that.

It is just not me. It is not about me and what happened to me alone. It is about how this happened to any of us, and it should never happen to any of us again. You have to have a reason to do what they did that I can't fathom.

This is a separate branch of government. Do you really want the Department of Justice coming after U.S. Senators' phone records when there is no warrant involved, when there is no alleged crime involved?

You are just fishing around. This is what we are talking about. That scares me. It offends me. And I am going to do something about it.

I think this provision can be changed in a way to be more acceptable to people, but we need to open up the courts to people like me and others that had our rights violated, I believe. But it will be up to the judge.

What we are trying to do is remedy a wrong. I think that is why Senator Schumer and the committees of jurisdiction understood why we needed to create an avenue.

It is me today. It could be you tomorrow. If you are at home, if they could do this to a U.S. Senator, what could they do to you? Maybe the Department of Justice doesn't like your post, doesn't like your political activity. They want to shut you down and find out who you have been talking to. This is scary stuff.

To Senator Thune, I look forward to working with my colleagues on the other side to find a way to make this section more acceptable, but I am not backing off. I am not going to accept repeal because we need a way forward.

To my friends in the House, you need to start worrying about your Members. The former Speaker and two Members I know of had their phone records spied upon. So we have our work to do to clean this mess up in a way to provide remedies to those who may have been harmed, but not just sweep it under the rug.

Arctic Frost will not be swept under the rug. I will not go quietly. I will keep pushing back on behalf of myself and others in like situations.

Majority leader, I think you have a proposal here.

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