U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned witnesses during a Judiciary Subcommittee hearing titled “Arctic Frost Accountability: Oversight of Telecommunications Carriers’ Responses to Jack Smith’s Witch Hunt.” The hearing was the first in a series of eight planned by Senate Judiciary Republicans to revisit issues related to the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021 insurrection.
Durbin addressed Mark Nelson, General Counsel and Executive Vice President for T-Mobile, and Chris Miller, Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Verizon. He focused on meetings between telecommunications companies and Congress members about changing procedures for disclosing names associated with telephone numbers.
“I hope you understand that from our perspective as politicians and elected officials that merely associating a name with an investigation raises a political concern… I value my privacy, maybe more than most, because I have so little privacy in public life and I want to make sure that it is not overrun with the few guardrails that still remain. In this circumstance, I understand that there was a meeting with representatives of Congress, maybe the Senate, to change this procedure in the future. Mr. Miller, were you party to that negotiation?” Durbin asked.
Mr. Miller responded that he is aware of these negotiations and said, “we do have a new process for something like this in the future.”
When asked what had changed, Mr. Miller explained: “If we receive a subpoena for a member of Congress, we will do several things. [We will] escalate it internally, we will address the subpoena with the issuing law enforcement agency, and if there is an attached nondisclosure order, we will challenge that order in court.”
Durbin then asked about how this change was implemented—whether through law or agreement—and how it would be enforced. Mr. Miller answered: “it is a change by way of agreement with the Senate Sergeant at Arms.”
“But what you were doing in this case involving [Special Counsel Jack] Smith was complying with the existing law at the time, correct?” Durbin continued.
Mr. Miller confirmed: “yes Senator, that’s correct.”
Durbin also questioned Mr. Nelson about whether T-Mobile had adopted similar measures. Mr. Nelson replied: “we have adjusted our processes. Congress had changed the law that's been repealed… but on a voluntary basis we are continuing to work with the Senate Sergeant at Arms to make similar changes to what you heard from my colleague from Verizon.”
David McAtee II from AT&T indicated his company has also spoken with the Senate Sergeant at Arms regarding improvements to their process.
Video footage of Durbin’s questions can be accessed online.
Earlier in the day, Durbin led all Senate Judiciary Democrats in calling again for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith to testify publicly before the committee and requested unredacted versions of Special Counsel reports currently withheld by President Trump’s Department of Justice.
The Senate Judiciary Committee plays an important role in shaping constitutional protections and public safety nationwide through its legislative oversight responsibilities as outlined on its official website. It reviews legislation related to judicial matters and federal law enforcement while evaluating judicial nominations (source). The committee includes senators from both major parties under leadership of its chair (source) and exerts influence over civil rights issues across federal law (source).
