Shock answer catches Darline Graham off guard as she tries to pin down Jack Smith

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) got more than she bargained for while questioning former special counsel Jack Smith.

The South Carolina Republican pressed the former Department of Justice appointee to explain the search warrants his team executed to obtain phone call logs for her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), as part of his investigation into Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"You alleged to a federal judge that my brother Lindsey, a patriot who had dedicated over 30 years of his life wearing the uniform of his country in the United States Air Force, a sitting United States senator and a chairman of this very committee, had the potential to destroy evidence, intimidate witnesses and cause serious jeopardy to your sham of an investigation," Graham said.

"In fact, in a separate gag order, you listed flight risk as a reason for obtaining a gag order for the Speaker of the House, a constitutional officer second in the presidential line of succession, and let me point out something for everyone. This subpoena wasn't being was being sent to Verizon for records that Verizon had in their own possession."

"How the hell was Lindsey going to tamper with evidence he didn't even have in his possession?" she added. "How was a member of Congress a flight risk? The legal term for your behavior would be obstruction of justice. But in South Carolina, we just call it a lie. This was undeniably a fishing expedition by you and your team to intimidate the president's allies in Congress."

Graham, who was appointed to serve the remainder of her brother's term and is now running for re-election in November, pointed out that Verizon had complied with the subpoenas but AT&T challenged them, and Smith's team did not contest that.

"They asked you to explain how this request was in compliance with the Constitution, and you didn't have an answer," she said. "In fact, you didn't even respond, and you never followed up with AT&T because you knew what you were doing was wrong. It doesn't make sense unless the only motivation you had was to take down President Trump and his allies one by one before the election. So, Mr. Smith, do you really believe that Lindsey was going to destroy evidence that was not even in his possession?"

Smith's answer seemed to catch Graham off guard.

"No, I believe your brother was a patriotic public servant," Smith said. "He was not a target of our investigation, and in fact, he likely would have been a witness in our case. Your brother investigated the claims that Donald Trump was making [about the 2020 election.] He found them to be false. He said so on the House floor."