A watchdog group is calling on Acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) William Pulte to review the security clearances of certain members of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team following allegations they mishandled classified information.

The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) has sent a letter to the DNI asserting allegations against members of Smith’s team and requesting an investigation to revoke security clearances if needed.

“As recent documents from Senator Grassley’s office have shown, several members of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office were extremely careless when handling classified documents and with the security of designated classified areas,” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

“Given these troubling findings, we think it is appropriate for Acting Director Pulte to initiate an immediate review into the clearances of these individuals and believe enough evidence likely exists per the relevant National Security Adjudicative Guidelines to restrict their access to classified information moving forward,” the statement said.

Smith alleged to have provided access to classified materials

Smith was appointed in 2022 as special counsel during the Biden administration to investigate Trump for numerous alleged offenses, including the mishandling of classified information, which led to a raid on Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. On July 8, 2026, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released documents showing Smith’s team allegedly inappropriately provided access to classified materials without the required “need to know” authorization, Just the News reported at the time. 

The documents also revealed that Justice Department officials raised concerns about the authorization, including one who said a secure facility used by the special counsel team was left open on at least one occasion.

“This conduct appears to show the Biden Justice Department may have mishandled classified information while it prosecuted President Trump for allegedly mishandling classified information,” Grassley wrote in a short letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche when he released the documents. “This is yet another example of law enforcement’s double standards in the previous administration.”

CASA also noted that Smith’s team was aware of the proper protocols when it came to handling classified information, yet lapses still allegedly occurred.

“Smith’s team was no stranger to the protocols and procedures for handling classified information. This is especially true in light of their targeted prosecution of President Trump for alleged mishandling of classified information—an offense they appear far more guilty of than President Trump,” CASA wrote.

Accusation: Lying to Congress under oath

Smith is also facing accusations of lying to Congress about spying on lawmakers. On Wednesday, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent a letter to the Justice Department referring Smith for criminal prosecution. Jordan sought an investigation into Smith’s claim, under oath, that he did not recall seeking a search warrant for lawmakers’ text messages. Jordan said in his letter that his Committee has information revealing that Smith’s team “obtained text messages of 44 Members of Congress — implicating both Republicans and Democrats in both chambers of Congress — that may have included privileged content. This information calls into question the completeness and accuracy of statements that Mr. Smith made under oath to the Committee regarding his team’s access to the content of members’ text messages.”

The recently released records were reported by Just the News at the time.

One of Trump’s first acts as president during his second term was to revoke the security clearances of the 51 former intelligence officials who coordinated with the Biden campaign to issue a letter claiming that reporting on President Joe Biden’s son Hunter leaving a laptop at a computer repair shop was Russian disinformation. The story was real, but the letter was issued just before Biden’s debate with Trump in 2020, allowing the Democrats and legacy media to falsely dismiss the line of attack.