This one is just … incredible (HuffPost):

A provision of the government funding bill that passed the Senate on Monday could give Republican senators a big payday over the government allegedly spying on them.

The legislation, expected to become law this week and end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, looks like it would allow the aggrieved senators to sue the government for at least $500,000 in statutory damages.

The FBI sought phone records from eight Republican senators in 2023 as part of its investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the certification of his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, according to documents obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who said the government “spied” on the lawmakers.

[…]

“Any Senator whose Senate data, or the Senate data of whose Senate office, has been acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed in violation of this section may bring a civil action against the United States if the violation was committed by an officer, employee, or agent of the United States or of any Federal department or agency,” the bill text says.

Crucially, the provision comes with “limited retroactive applicability” covering any violations since January 2022, so the eight senators would be eligible for damages for the probe that occurred in 2023.

The investigation, nicknamed “Arctic Frost,” looked at the timing of phone calls by the lawmakers from Jan. 4 to Jan. 7, 2021. The records included details about call times but not the actual contents of the communications, contrary to one Republican who complained his phone had been “wiretapped.”

The eight senators are Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). Investigators also obtained phone records for Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), but the legislation doesn’t create a cause of action for House members. None of the lawmakers were charged with crimes or were known to be the targets of a criminal investigation.

Public record shows that those Senators were being sought to help with the coup. The special counsel was trying to establish a timeline. But naturally these senators are squealing about being “spied on” when the truth is that they were participating in a coup attempt. But whatever.

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