Former special counsel deputy pushed to scrap Congress's Speech or Debate protection

Newly released documents disclose that JP Cooney, the principal deputy prosecutor under special counsel Jack Smith, wrote in a 2021 conversation that he favored repealing the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects legislators from civil or criminal liability for their official actions. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley highlighted the exchange, accusing Smith’s team of violating the clause by secretly acquiring toll records and text messages from numerous members of Congress during their investigation into the 2020 election aftermath.

The probe included subpoenas that accessed communications of Republican senators such as Chuck Grassley, Ron Johnson, John Cornyn, Josh Hawley, Mike Lee, as well as Democrat Cory Booker and the late Lindsey Graham. In 2023, Cooney and other prosecutors received warnings that subpoenaing congressional information could breach the clause. After leaving the special counsel’s office, Cooney joined Democracy Forward, a public-integrity organization, and together with Molly Gaston claimed they would hold the powerful accountable. The revelations fuel ongoing partisan debate over the scope of congressional immunity and the conduct of the election-interference investigation.