The Trump administration is once again signaling support for a nondisclosure order (NDO) reform bill being considered in Congress, which is aimed at preventing another "Arctic Frost"-style investigation. One source is confident it could pass by the August recess.
The post-2020 election investigation led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith resulted in phone records being obtained from numerous top Republican officials and figures without their knowledge. The decision to get the records led to intense scrutiny of telecommunications companies and Smith.
The “NDO Fairness Act” introduced by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) passed the House Judiciary Committee with a voice vote in November, and there’s a Senate version backed by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Mike Lee (R-UT) circulating in the Senate.
“The whole Administration is livid about what Jack Smith did during Arctic Frost to secretly seize cell phone records,” a Trump administration official, who was granted permission to speak on background to talk about the issue openly, stated to Townhall.
The Washington Free Beacon reported similarly in April that the bill had the administration’s support. Townhall reached out to the White House for comment.
“They took the president's private data and didn't even disclose it, same thing for Kash Patel and even Susie Wiles. We're hoping Congress can get their act together and pass something like the NDO Fairness Act so this can't happen again if Democrats take control,” the official added.
Coons said in a statement in January that “it’s too easy for law enforcement to access electronic records without informing the person they’re under investigation.”
A former GOP staffer who worked on the legislation noted that Democrats had viewed NDOs as a civil liberties issue prior to the Smith investigation.
The ex-staffer explained that the proposal would essentially raise the bar for a non-disclosure order to be granted. With some critical exceptions for certain types of serious crimes, it would allow for more transparency in the process.
The source explained that if the law had existed during the investigation, Smith would not have been able to discreetly get the records of members of Congress. The lawmakers at least would have found out about the request for the records, the source argued, expressing optimism that there’s “a very good chance it passes before the August recess,” noting the proposal’s bipartisan backing.
“The deep state should not be able to spy on you and cover it up—unfortunately, they have been using nondisclosure orders to do exactly that,” Lee told Townhall in a statement Friday.
“The NDO Fairness Act shields your digital property under the 4th Amendment and establishes a review system to ensure that NDO’s aren’t abused. It's time we fight for privacy against the surveillance state,” he added.