A proposal from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Thursday set off a tense back-and-forth on the Senate floor after he suggested that if any Republican senator wins damages from suing the Justice Department, the money should go to the U.S. Treasury — not into lawmakers' own pockets.
The dispute centers on a provision in the sweeping government funding bill that ended the 43-day shutdown. The measure allows senators whose phone records were subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith during the Jan. 6 investigation to sue the DOJ for $500,000 per device accessed.
Thune said his amendment would simply "clarify that any damages awarded under this law would be forfeited to the United States Treasury," ensuring "no United States senator could benefit."
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., blasted the original language as a "blatant tax-funded cash grab."
"This provision allows eight Republican senators to collect millions of dollars from the U.S. government," Heinrich said.
"That money would be paid from your hard-earned tax dollars ... even though the law was followed by the government at the time. Frankly, this is just outrageous to me."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., objected forcefully.
"What did I do wrong?" Graham asked.
"What did I do to allow the government to seize my personal phone and my official phone when I was Senate Judiciary chairman? What did I do?"
He said he plans "to sue [former President Joe] Biden's DOJ and Jack Smith. I'm going to sue Verizon."
Graham said he could receive $500,000 in damages for each instance in which the government surveilled his personal or official devices.
"It's going to be a hell of a lot more than $500,000. This is twice it happened to me ... and the crime is being friends of [President Donald] Trump, being supporters of Trump."
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., accused Republicans of designing a payout for themselves, calling it "a very select group" that could reap "at least half a million dollars, if not millions."
The House on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill to repeal the original provision.
"What they did is wrong," Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said last week. "There's actually a list of people that know they will get paid as soon as this thing is signed — at least they've got the coupon where all they have to do is go file at the courthouse to get paid."
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the provision "self-serving" and criticized its last-minute insertion without any debate.
"It is beside my comprehension that this got put in the bill, and it's why people have such a low opinion of this town," he said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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