FBI analysed phone records of senators as part of Trump January 6 probe, lawmakers say

The FBI in 2023 analysed phone records of more than half a dozen Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation into efforts by US President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to information released on Monday by Republican senators.

The records enabled investigators to see basic information about the date and time of the calls but not the content of the communications, the senators said.

The data encompassed several days during the week of January 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol in a failed bid to halt the certification of the election results.

The disclosure adds new detail to the since-closed investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and former special counsel Jack Smith into the steps Trump and his allies took in the run-up to the Capitol riot to undo his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump was indicted in August 2023 for conspiring to overturn the results, but the case was abandoned by Trump’s win the following year because of a Justice Department legal opinion that says sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.

The subpoena for the phone records was disclosed by several Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI.

Grassley said the document memorialising the “preliminary toll analysis” was found in response to his request. The investigative step was approved by a grand jury, the senators said.

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