Ethics complaint targets Blackburn, Hagerty over vote on phone-records provision

WASHINGTON — A Washington watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint accusing Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of violating Senate conflict-of-interest rules by voting for a shutdown-ending funding bill that included a provision allowing eight senators to sue the federal government over the FBI’s surveillance of their phone activity.

The complaint, submitted Thursday by the Campaign Legal Center, argues that senators “used an emergency funding bill… to create a personal benefit potentially worth millions of dollars for a limited group of Senators.” Blackburn and Hagerty were among eight Republicans whose phone metadata was subpoenaed during the Justice Department’s Arctic Frost review of protests surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.

The spending bill — which reopened the federal government after the longest shutdown in U.S. history — included language enabling those eight senators to sue for up to $500,000 per violation if their personal data was obtained without their knowledge. Both Tennessee senators voted for the measure.

Blackburn initially said she intended to sue the federal government, calling the FBI’s actions a “political witch hunt.” After criticism that her vote created a potential financial benefit, she said she always intended to seek only a declaratory judgment, not monetary damages.

“This fight is not about the money; it is about holding the left accountable for the worst weaponization of government in our nation’s history,” Blackburn said in a statement this week.

Hagerty said he does not plan to file any lawsuit, emphasizing that he will not seek taxpayer-funded damages. “I do not want and I am not seeking damages for myself paid for with taxpayer dollars,” he said.

The dispute has also intensified the political pressure on Blackburn as she and U.S. Rep. John Rose compete for the Republican nomination for governor. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Rose introduced legislation to repeal the lawsuit provision entirely, arguing that senators “should know better than to ask American taxpayers to foot the bill for the rogue actions of the DOJ under Joe Biden’s leadership.” The move positioned him as the first Republican to formally push for its removal and signaled his intent to make the issue a defining contrast with Blackburn.

In an op-ed published Saturday in The Tennessean, Rose escalated his criticism, calling the Senate’s action “a stain on the institution” and labeling the provision a self-serving “cash grab” inserted into the shutdown-ending bill “in a backroom.” He wrote that the language nearly caused “some Members of the House, including myself,” to vote against reopening the government, saying it “blindsided the entire country” and risked prolonging the shutdown. Rose added that he had urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Special Counsel Jack Smith for potential Fourth Amendment violations during the Arctic Frost probe but argued that “two wrongs don’t make a right” and that suing taxpayers was “not the answer.”

Rose urged every Senate Republican to publicly repudiate the provision and “disavow the bill they supported (and wrote),” praising Hagerty for rejecting any payout and noting Blackburn changed her position after criticism mounted. He accused unnamed senators of focusing on “getting rich” while Tennesseans struggled through the shutdown and said he intends to pursue answers about “who set out to play us for fools.”

The Campaign Legal Center brands itself as a nonpartisan democracy watchdog, but its funding and litigation record have drawn scrutiny from conservatives who argue the group functions as a left-leaning advocacy organization. CLC has received substantial support from progressive-aligned donors and foundations, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the MacArthur Foundation, the Tides Foundation, and the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, as well as more than $2.5 million from Sam Bankman-Fried, whose FTX empire collapsed in 2022. While the organization does not endorse candidates, its major cases in recent years have primarily targeted Republican-backed voting, redistricting and campaign-finance policies in states such as Texas, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Supporters describe CLC as a neutral enforcer of federal election law when the FEC is gridlocked. Critics say the group’s donor base and litigation pattern tilt it firmly left despite its nonpartisan label.

In its complaint, CLC asks the Senate Ethics Committee to determine whether the eight senators “used their legislative positions to advance their own financial interests” rather than acting solely in the public interest.

The committee has not announced whether it will review the filing.

Blackburn and Hagerty both say they would support repealing the lawsuit provision if it comes to the Senate floor.