Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records
Republican alleges unlawful collection of congressional toll records and challenges special counsel's appointment.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Republican sues Jack Smith over 'phone records' subpoena
Photograph: Alternet (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn has filed a lawsuit against former special counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department.
- Blackburn alleges that Smith unlawfully collected her telephone toll records and those of other members of Congress.
- The lawsuit also challenges the legality of Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel.
- She is seeking $1 in damages and reimbursement for court expenses and lawyers' fees.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
58/100
Hype
41/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn has filed a lawsuit against former special counsel Jack Smith and the Justice Department. The suit, filed on Wednesday, alleges that Smith unlawfully obtained her telephone toll records and those of other members of Congress. Blackburn is also challenging the legality of Smith's appointment as special counsel.
Disagreement on lawsuit details
The lawsuit seeks $1 in damages, as well as reimbursement for court expenses and lawyers' fees, according to Alternet. Other reports state she is seeking nominal damages of $1 and a declaration that Smith was unlawfully appointed, as reported by Fox News and cited by Just the News.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports mention the specific demands detailed in Alternet regarding an injunction for Smith to destroy legislative materials or return toll records. The centre-rated press did not cover this story.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 30 Sept 2026, 19:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- Alternet reported on Senator Marsha Blackburn's lawsuit against Jack Smith, focusing on the details of the 46-page complaint. The report highlighted Blackburn's demands, including a declaration that Smith was unlawfully appointed and that his collection of toll records was unlawful and violated her constitutional and civil rights. Alternet also detailed Blackburn's requests for an injunction requiring Smith to destroy any legislative materials in his possession and to return all copies of the toll records. The outlet noted Blackburn is seeking $1 in damages and payment of all court expenses and lawyers' fees by the DOJ. It also referenced a fund for settlement agreements with the DOJ, mentioning former President Donald Trump's agreement with the IRS.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
6 rated outlets
- Reports from the right-rated outlets focused on Senator Marsha Blackburn's lawsuit against Jack Smith concerning her phone records. Several outlets, including Just the News, Washington Times, nytimespost.com, wfmd.com, Fox News, and The Free Press (Tampa), stated that Smith obtained the phone records of several senators through a subpoena and secured a non-disclosure order preventing notification to the affected lawmakers. The reports generally mentioned Blackburn's claim that Smith's acquisition of her records violated the speech and debate clause of the Constitution and that she is seeking $1 in damages and a declaration that Smith was unlawfully appointed. Some reports noted that whether a special counsel requires Senate confirmation is a subject of legal debate, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon having previously found Smith's appointment illegal. The Free Press (Tampa) specified the complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and named Smith in his personal capacity.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 14% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records biased?
- Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Senator Blackburn sues Jack Smith over phone records?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Why is Senator Marsha Blackburn suing Jack Smith?
- Senator Marsha Blackburn filed a lawsuit alleging that former special counsel Jack Smith unlawfully collected her telephone toll records and those of other members of Congress. She also challenges the legality of Smith's appointment as special counsel.
- What does Senator Blackburn want from the lawsuit?
- Blackburn is seeking $1 in damages and reimbursement for court expenses and lawyers' fees. She also wants a declaration that Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed and that his collection of her phone records was illegal.
- What specific records did Jack Smith obtain?
- According to the lawsuit, Jack Smith obtained Senator Blackburn's telephone toll records and those of other members of Congress. These records were reportedly collected through a grand jury subpoena during the Arctic Frost investigation.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
6- Sen. Blackburn sues Jack Smith for obtaining her phone records (opens Washington Times in a new tab)
Washington Times — is Washington Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Secret phone-record seizure sparks personal lawsuit from GOP senator - NEW YORK TIMES POST (opens nytimespost.com in a new tab)
nytimespost.com — is nytimespost.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Secret phone-record seizure sparks personal lawsuit from GOP senator (opens wfmd.com in a new tab)
- Secret phone-record seizure sparks personal lawsuit from GOP senator (opens Fox News in a new tab)
- Blackburn sues Jack Smith for accessing her phone records (opens Just the News in a new tab)
Just the News — is Just the News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn Files Federal Lawsuit Against Jack Smith Over Secret Phone Snooping (opens The Free Press (Tampa) in a new tab)
The Free Press (Tampa) — is The Free Press (Tampa) biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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