Good morning.
Newly released records are raising questions about how Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team handled lawmakers’ private communications, New Jersey officials say thousands of self-identified noncitizens were mistakenly added to the voter rolls, and a Missouri prosecutor has been temporarily removed from office over allegations that she protected a former romantic partner from prosecution.
Jack Smith Team Accused of Bypassing Safeguards to Review Lawmakers’ Texts
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump reportedly obtained and reviewed text messages involving 44 members of Congress without first putting the communications through a required privilege-screening process.
The allegations emerged from records released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson as part of their oversight of Arctic Frost, the federal investigation that eventually became Smith’s election case against Trump.
According to Judicial Watch, Smith’s team accessed messages sent between members of Congress and Trump White House officials while investigating efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
The controversy revolves around the apparent decision to bypass a filter team, which is normally tasked with reviewing potentially privileged material before investigators gain access to it.
That safeguard is particularly important when congressional communications are involved. Messages relating to official legislative duties may be protected under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, while others could be covered by attorney-client or additional legal privileges.
Grassley and Johnson said their own messages were among those obtained.
Grassley accused Smith’s team of ignoring routine procedures and sweeping up work-related communications belonging to lawmakers who were not targets of the investigation. He said Smith would be called before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the operation.
Johnson described the disclosures as further evidence of political weaponization within the Biden-era Justice Department.
The records do not establish that every message reviewed was constitutionally protected, but they are likely to intensify scrutiny of how broadly Smith’s investigators collected information and whether internal safeguards were deliberately set aside.
New Jersey Says Thousands of Noncitizens Were Mistakenly Registered
More than 6,000 people who identified themselves as noncitizens were mistakenly registered to vote in New Jersey because of a software error at the state Motor Vehicle Commission according to Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
The error occurred between June 2023 and June 2024 and affected approximately 6,600 people who had correctly indicated on state identification or driver’s license forms that they were not United States citizens.
Despite those answers, the system registered them anyway.
State officials say fewer than 400 of the affected individuals ultimately cast ballots before the problem was discovered. The administration has not yet disclosed which elections included those ballots or whether any results were affected.
Sherrill said she ordered an investigation after learning about the issue and directed officials to remove improperly registered noncitizens from the voter rolls.
She blamed the incident on serious failures within the previous administration and promised to identify those responsible. At the same time, she accused President Trump of using election integrity concerns for political purposes and argued that he lacked credibility on the issue because of his continued claims about the 2020 election.
The central question now is how software allowed thousands of applicants to be registered despite explicitly stating they were ineligible, and why the mistake remained undiscovered for so long.
Missouri Prosecutor Removed Over Alleged Conflicts and Cover-Up
A Missouri judge has temporarily removed Ray County Prosecutor Camille Johnston from office after the state attorney general accused her of using her position to protect an illegal immigrant with whom she had previously been romantically involved.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway alleges Johnston concealed her relationship with Juan David Gutierrez while her office was responsible for deciding whether to prosecute him for an alleged 2019 sexual assault.
According to the removal petition, law enforcement informed Johnston by September 2020 that Gutierrez was a suspect. Rather than recusing herself or requesting a special prosecutor, she allegedly hid the conflict from investigators, employees, the court, and the reported victim.
The filing claims Johnston knew Gutierrez had left Missouri, maintained contact with him, visited him in Mississippi, and vacationed with him in Florida.
In 2023, she allegedly transferred ownership of her vehicle to Gutierrez while knowing he could use it to remain out of reach of law enforcement or potentially flee to Mexico.
Gutierrez was eventually arrested in Ohio in 2024 and now faces sodomy and attempted sodomy charges. His trial has repeatedly been delayed.
Johnston has denied helping him evade authorities and previously said she did not know about the allegations during their relationship or about pending charges when she transferred the vehicle.
The attorney general’s case extends beyond Gutierrez.
Johnston is also accused of maintaining undisclosed romantic relationships with a defense attorney whose clients were prosecuted by her office and with a married man facing domestic violence allegations. She allegedly fired an employee who discovered one of those relationships and created a workplace marked by intimidation and angry outbursts.
The court order bars Johnston from entering the prosecutor’s office or courthouse and from conducting official business without authorization while the removal case proceeds.
She has 10 days to respond to the allegations.
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