Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told Newsmax on Tuesday that he opposes a new provision added to the short-term government funding bill allowing senators to sue the federal government for unlawful surveillance, warning that it risks sticking ordinary taxpayers with the bill instead of holding the true wrongdoers accountable.
Tuberville, speaking on "National Report," said he understands the impulse behind the "spy clause" — especially after revelations related to the "Arctic Frost" spying investigation exposed improper access to lawmakers' phone records.
But he argued that financial penalties should not be borne by the public.
"I don't think anybody needs to go after the American taxpayer here. They didn't do anything," Tuberville said.
"This is making American taxpayers pay money."
The measure — signed by President Donald Trump last week — lets any U.S. senator sue for at least $500,000 if federal investigators sought their phone records without prior notification.
Tuberville, who was among those affected by improper surveillance, said the remedy should fall squarely on the individuals and institutions responsible — not on citizens who had no role in the misconduct.
"You put crooked judges like [Judge James] Boasberg — you impeach him," Tuberville said. "And you put [former Special Counsel] Jack Smith, who was a crooked Department of Justice employee that did this behind the scenes — put him in jail."
"That's what we have to do," he added.
Tuberville insisted that the federal government must not "circumvent" accountability by shifting liability to taxpayers.
"We've got to do the right thing for everybody involved and get this nipped in the bud," he said. "And not let it happen again."
Tuberville also suggested that phone carriers who facilitated surveillance requests — particularly when they involved private citizens — should be the ones held financially responsible.
"If you want to go after somebody, you go after the telephone companies that did this to you as an individual," he said. "Not as a senator, not as a congressman, but as a private citizen."
Tuberville said the damages provision would apply only going forward because retroactive liability is not legally viable.
While he acknowledged why some lawmakers may want future penalties on the books, he dismissed the idea of funding those judgments with taxpayer dollars.
"There's no reason why we should even put a monetary value on this," Tuberville said.
"We don't need to charge the American taxpayer. My God, what are we trying to prove here?"
Tuberville said the focus should remain on criminal accountability for those who abused their authority.
"What we're trying to prove is put people in jail that break the law," he said. "That's what we need to look at."
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