'Dishonest': Experts fact-check GOP senator’s 'conspiracy' claims about FBI phone tapping

After his questioning of Attorney General Pam Bondi at a Senate Committee Hearing Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) ignited a firestorm of reactions after expressing outrage that, following his fleeing of the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, his phone was investigated by President Joe Biden's Department of Justice.

"We learned that the FBI tapped my phone," Hawley said to Bondi at the hearing, adding, "Who knows why?"

On Monday, Hawley called for a Justice Department investigation following reports that special counsel Jack Smith's Jan. 6 probe tracked communications of several Republican senators.

According to Media Matters senior fellow Matthew Gertz, in his reply to Hawley's hearing statement, MAGA loyalist and Wisconsin's Republican Senator "Ron Johnson — RON JOHNSON — corrected a Newsmax host who said [that the FBI tapped Republican senators' phones] last night, pointing out that the FBI only obtained metadata," he wrote on X. "'More dishonest and conspiracy-minded than Ron Johnson' is a hell of a choice here."

HuffPost's congressional and White House reporter Jennifer Bendery wrote on X, "Today, Josh Hawley — who voted to overturn the 2020 election after fanning the Big Lie the election was stolen from Trump, the same lie that fueled the Jan. 6 insurrection Hawley was egging on — is outraged the FBI analyzed some senators' phone logs in its Jan. 6 probe."

Bendery continued to correct Hawley's claim, saying, "Hawley also raging about the FBI having 'tapped my phone,' but that's not what happened. The FBI analyzed data relating to dates and times of some GOP senators' calls during the week of Jan. 6. No wire tapping or looking at content of communications."

Hawley, Bendery points out, isn't exactly looking out for democracy, she says, adding, "Relatedly, Josh Hawley gets an 'F' rating by the Republican Accountability Project on his efforts to protect democracy."