House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is urging the Department of Justice to pursue criminal charges against special counsel Jack Smith over allegations he lied to Congress about tracking phone messages of lawmakers. 

Jordan on Wednesday issued a criminal referral to the DOJ in the matter, the Washington Examiner reported. 

Republicans have raised concerns about Smith's activities while he was at the Biden administration's DOJ. Smith obtained subpoenas that allowed him to access communication records of mostly Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation by the DOJ and FBI dubbed "Arctic Frost." 

Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released data he said shows that Smith's team reviewed 44 text messages from 44 mostly Republican lawmakers. 

During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last December, Smith denied that he had looked at the contents of lawmakers' text messages. Based on the Judiciary Committees data, Jordan sent a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, alleging Smith committed perjury when he denied examining the text messages.