<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Senate Judiciary Committee chairman <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/chuck-grassley/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chuck Grassley</a> (R-IA) stated that former special counsel <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/jack-smith/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jack Smith</a> obtained checks from at least 4,782 Americans as part of his "Arctic Frost" investigation, which provided the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/biden-administration/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Biden administration</a> access to these individuals’ bank accounts and routing numbers.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Grassley questioned Smith regarding the collection of these checks and the potential privacy implications of the government having access to this information. He noted that the checks included home addresses, bank account and routing numbers, and signatures from individuals across all 50 states, <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/washington-dc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Washington, D.C.</a>, and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/puerto-rico/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Puerto Rico</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">"No matter what you say, there’s no legitimate basis for what you did," Grassley said to Smith during a hearing on Tuesday. "Especially since your staff killed an investigation into the Clinton campaign. Donations to Republican groups weren’t necessary to your investigation, which is proved out by the fact it wasn’t mentioned in your public report."</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Smith confirmed during his testimony on Tuesday that he obtained donor data, including financial information. "Yes, we acquired financial information," Smith stated, referencing his investigations into President <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>. "As I sit here right now, I cannot recite to you every subpoena we issued. I can tell you why we issued subpoenas, and it was to conduct a criminal investigation of one of the most serious crimes that’s ever happened in our nation’s history. I had a duty to collect facts."</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Smith’s testimony focused on his two investigations of Trump: the investigation of the January 6 riot and the 2020 election, and the investigations into the classified documents case.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">"Now, the Justice Department and the FBI will forever possess thousands of people’s address, phone number, bank account number, bank routing number, and a copy of their true signature," Grassley said. "Every member of this committee ought to be outraged for what happened to their constituents."</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to Grassley’s office, the information regarding the checks comes from whistleblower disclosures, and the checks were routed to former FBI Special Agent Walter Giardina.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The donations made to Trump’s campaign and Trump-aligned groups were largely small-dollar donations, <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/breaking-jack-smiths-team-collected-checks-from-nearly-5000-americans-in-all-50-states" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according</a> to Grassley.</p>