2026-10-03T07:00:05-04:00 / 福克斯新闻
JP·库尼在调查2020年大选期间称议员的宪法保护“荒谬可笑”
作者：罗伯特·施马德 福克斯新闻
发布于2026年10月3日 美国东部时间早上7:00
杰克·史密斯就特朗普相关调查接受参议院司法委员会质询
福克斯新闻记者大卫·斯彭特报道前特别检察官杰克·史密斯在国会山参议院司法委员会作证时的情况，共和党议员就其政治越界指控向他施压。共和党议员就针对唐纳德·特朗普总统的调查对史密斯进行质询。
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新披露的文件显示，前特别检察官杰克·史密斯的一名高级副手曾倡导废除针对议员的一项关键宪法保护条款。
“我支持废除该条款，但如果做不到这点，我们只能受其约束，以及它目前的解释方式，”曾担任史密斯首席副检察官的JP·库尼在2021年的一次交流中写道，该交流最初由《华盛顿考察家报》获得。当时他正在与另一名后来加入史密斯团队的检察官莫莉·加斯顿讨论宪法的言论或辩论条款。
美国宪法的言论或辩论条款保护国会议员免受因其立法行为或言论而引发的民事或刑事起诉。从理论上讲，该条款可保护立法分支免受行政分支以起诉相威胁的胁迫。
“我办公室收到的文件显示，杰克·史密斯的得力助手J.P.库尼公然表达了对言论或辩论条款的蔑视，而该条款是保障权力分立的关键。随后，库尼和史密斯违反了这一宪法保障，秘密获取了数十名国会议员的通话记录和短信，”参议院司法委员会主席、爱荷华州共和党参议员查克·格拉斯利告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
杰克·史密斯在布兰奇听证会上因曝光议员通讯记录再次成为焦点
前司法部特别检察官杰克·史密斯等待作证，就其对唐纳德·特朗普总统的调查接受众议院司法委员会质询，2026年1月22日，周四，华盛顿国会山。（马克·希费尔比/美联社照片）
“杰克·史密斯及其团队在整个党派调查中可耻地践踏了宪法。当失控的民主党政府掌权时，就会发生这种情况，”格拉斯利补充道。
史密斯及其团队负责调查推翻2020年总统选举结果的相关行为。
库尼对言论或辩论条款的立场在史密斯周二于国会山举行的听证会上成为争议焦点。
“你担任特别检察官时，给下属下达了哪些处理言论或辩论条款以及律师-客户保密材料的指示？你是否发布过任何指令？如果有，是向谁发布的？请解释，”格拉斯利援引库尼支持废除该条款的言论向史密斯发问。
“那么关于言论或辩论条款，首先，我们认真履行了该条款规定的义务。在我看来，这是权力分立的重要组成部分，”史密斯回应道。“我的团队中有成员非常熟悉该条款，他们曾在公共诚信部门工作多年。在适当或必要时，我们也会就该条款的适用问题咨询公共诚信部门。”
格拉斯利驳斥了史密斯的辩护，称其团队的行为与他的说法自相矛盾。
拜登任命的特别检察官“脱缰”获取敏感议员信息：“滥用权力”
爱荷华州参议员、参议院司法委员会主席查克·格拉斯利在华盛顿一场听证会上发言，2025年9月16日。（阿尔·德拉戈/彭博社 via 盖蒂图片社）
共和党人辩称，库尼的观点预示了史密斯后来对议员通讯记录使用传票的行为。史密斯的团队获取并查看了数十名议员涉及的通讯内容，同时另有传票要求获取一小部分国会议员的电话记录。在被获取和查看其与白宫人员通讯记录的议员中，有爱荷华州共和党参议员查克·格拉斯利、威斯康星州共和党参议员罗恩·约翰逊、德克萨斯州共和党参议员约翰·科宁、密苏里州共和党参议员乔希·霍利、犹他州共和党参议员迈克·李、新泽西州民主党参议员科里·布克，以及已故的南卡罗来纳州共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆。
“2023年，库尼、加斯顿、温德姆和雷·赫尔瑟收到警告，称传唤国会信息可能违反言论或辩论条款，”格拉斯利此前曾表示。
重磅新报告让杰克·史密斯再次陷入困境，吉姆·乔丹指控他试图“影响”2024年大选
前美国特别检察官杰克·史密斯抵达华盛顿特区众议院司法委员会进行闭门作证，2025年12月17日，周三。史密斯被传唤作证，就其领导的针对唐纳德·特朗普总统行为的全面调查作出说明，该调查是委员会正在进行的相关调查的一部分。（盖蒂图片社）
据此前披露的通讯记录，库尼在2021年的另一场调查中曾抱怨获取议员电话记录相关的法定限制，曾一度称相关条款“荒谬可笑”。
当被问及库尼对言论或辩论条款的立场时，库尼目前任职的倡导组织“民主向前”向福克斯新闻数字频道转交了一份宣布聘用他和加斯顿的新闻稿。
库尼和加斯顿在该新闻稿中表示，他们多年来一直“追究最有权势者的公共腐败和民权滥用行为责任”，并表示他们加入“民主向前”是因为特朗普政府所谓的“淡化”公共腐败执法工作。
尽管共和党人将史密斯的调查描述为政治迫害，但他坚称自己公正行事，符合美国的最佳利益。
支持者认为，史密斯的调查有必要进行，因为相关指控涉及宪政政府核心的行为，包括推翻2020年总统选举结果、阻挠合法权力移交的企图，以及唐纳德·特朗普总统被指保留和隐瞒高度机密文件的行为。
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福克斯新闻数字频道周三联系了加斯顿与库尼律师事务所。
Top investigator in Biden-era election probe wanted to tear key constitutional right away from lawmakers
2026-10-03T07:00:05-04:00 / Fox News
JP Cooney called the constitutional protection for lawmakers ‘ridiculous’ while investigating the 2020 election probe
By Robert Schmad Fox News
Published October 3, 2026 7:00am EDT
Jack Smith grilled by Senate Judiciary Committee over Trump probes
Fox News correspondent David Spunt reports on former special counsel Jack Smith testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill as GOP senators press him on claims of political overreach. Republican lawmakers grill Smith over his investigations into President Donald Trump.
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Newly uncovered documents reveal that one of former special counsel Jack Smith’s top deputies advocated for repealing a key constitutional protection for lawmakers.
“I’m an advocate for repealing the clause but absent that, we’re stuck with it and the way it’s been interpreted,” JP Cooney, who served as Smith’s principal deputy prosecutor, wrote in a 2021 exchange first obtained by the Washington Examiner. He was speaking with Molly Gaston, another prosecutor who would go on to join Smith, about the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
The Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution protects members of Congress from civil or criminal prosecution stemming from their legislative actions or speech. In theory, it shields the legislative branch from being coerced by the executive branch under threat of prosecution.
“Records provided to my office revealed that Jack Smith’s right-hand man, J.P. Cooney, flaunted his disdain for the Speech or Debate Clause, which protects the separation of powers. Later, Cooney and Smith violated this constitutional safeguard by secretly obtaining toll records and text messages from dozens of members of Congress,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital.
JACK SMITH THRUST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT AT BLANCHE HEARING OVER EXPOSED SENATORS’ MESSAGES
Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith waits to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at the Capitol in Washington.(Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
“Jack Smith and his team disgracefully tore up the Constitution throughout his partisan investigation. That’s what happens when runaway Democrat government is in power,” Grassley added.
Smith and his staff were responsible for investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Cooney’s position on the Speech or Debate Clause was a point of contention during Smith’s Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill.
“When you became Special Counsel, what direction did you give your staff to handle Speech or Debate and Attorney-Client material? Did you issue any directives? If so, to whom? Please explain,”Grassley asked Smith, citing Cooney’s support for repealing the clause.
“So, with respect to the Speech or Debate Clause, first, we took our obligations seriously under the Speech or Debate Clause. It’s, in my view, an important part of the separation of powers,” Smith responded. “I had members of my staff who were very familiar with the clause, having worked in the public integrity section for years. We also, when it was appropriate or required, consulted with the public integrity section regarding application of that clause.”
Grassley dismissed Smith’s defense by arguing that the behavior of his staff contradicted his statement.
BIDEN SPECIAL COUNSEL’S ‘RUNAWAY TRAIN’ SCOOPED UP SENSITIVE LAWMAKER INFO: ‘ABUSE OF POWER’
Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, Sept. 16, 2025(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Republicans have argued Cooney’s views foreshadowed Smith’s later use of subpoenas for lawmakers’ communication records. Smith’s team obtained and reviewed communications involving dozens of lawmakers, while separate subpoenas sought telephone records associated with a smaller group of members of Congress. Among the lawmakers whose messages with White House personnel were obtained and reviewed were Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Cory Booker, D-N.J., and the late Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“In 2023, Cooney, Gaston, Windom and Ray Hulser were given warnings that subpoenaing congressional information could violate the Speech or Debate clause,” Grassley previously said.
EXPLOSIVE NEW REPORT PUTS JACK SMITH BACK IN HOT SEAT AS JIM JORDAN ALLEGES HE TRIED TO ‘SWAY’ 2024 ELECTION
Jack Smith, former US special counsel, arrives for a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. Smith was subpoenaed to testify about his sweeping investigations into President Donald Trump’s actions, as part of an ongoing investigation the panel is conducting into the probes he led.(Getty Images)
Cooney complained about statutory restrictions surrounding efforts to obtain lawmakers’ telephone records during a separate 2021 investigation, at one point calling the language “ridiculous,” according to previously released messages.
When asked about Cooney’s position on the Speech or Debate Clause, Democracy Forward – the advocacy organization where he now works – referred Fox News Digital to a press release announcing its hiring of both him and Gaston.
Cooney and Gaston said in the release that they had spent years “holding the most powerful accountable for public corruption and civil rights abuses” and said they joined Democracy Forward amid what they characterized as the Trump administration’s “de-prioritization” of public corruption enforcement.
While Republicans have characterized Smith’s investigation as a political witch hunt, he maintains that he acted impartially and in the best interests of the United States.
Proponents argue that Smith’s investigation was necessary because the allegations involved conduct at the core of constitutional government, including efforts to overturn the 2020 election and obstruct the lawful transfer of power, as well as the retention and alleged concealment of highly classified documents on part of President Donald Trump.
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Fox News Digital reached Gaston & Cooney PLLC on Wednesday.
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