1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

An Open Letter to Senator Grassley: Iowans Deserve Answers on the Withheld Jack Smith Hearing Records Dear Senator Grassley, I am an Iowan, and I expect the Judiciary Committee you chair to follow its own rules. I am writing about your committee's Sept. 29 hearing, "Oversight of Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans and Related Matters." At that hearing, Sen. Eric Schmitt displayed a poster of text messages and accused Mr. Smith of perjury over a basketball game. Mr. Smith said he was at an Iowa–Maryland game that day, and Sen. Klobuchar noted that Sen. Schmitt had confused the Iowa Hawkeyes with the Atlanta Hawks. On Oct. 7, Ranking Member Durbin and nine other committee Democrats wrote to you. They allege that the committee withheld the records used at the hearing from the minority, in violation of Senate Rules XXVI and XXVII. They say they asked for copies of the poster and never received them. I ask you to answer publicly, and in writing: 1 Were these records shared with minority members and staff before the hearing? If not, who decided to withhold them, and why? 2 Will you release them now, along with any other withheld committee records? 3 Do you commit to following Rules XXVI and XXVII at future hearings? 4 Did you or your staff review the poster and call notes before they were used to accuse a witness of a crime? What verification was done? 5 Will you apologize to Mr. Smith for the perjury accusation, as the Democrats request, or explain why you believe it was warranted? I have seen your response that Mr. Smith owes an apology over bank records. That is a separate matter, and it doesn't answer whether your committee followed its own rules. Your concerns about Mr. Smith's conduct deserve a serious hearing, and a serious hearing starts with verified documents shared with every member. Iowans are entitled to a direct answer.