Newly released internal Justice Department messages appear to show classified security lapses inside former special counsel Jack Smith’s office while prosecutors under the Biden administration were pursuing President Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents.

The records, released Wednesday, describe an incident in which an individual received access to classified material without confirmation of a required “need to know,” uncertainty over the movement of classified materials, and a security “violation and incident” after a DOJ sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, was left unsecured overnight or longer. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released the messages while demanding answers from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about whether the incidents were investigated and whether any classified material was compromised.

“Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,” Grassley said in a statement. “According to these messages, Biden DOJ personnel may have committed the very offense for which Jack Smith was prosecuting President Trump.”

In a letter to Blanche, Grassley requested responses by July 22 addressing whether the apparent security failures involved evidence used in Smith’s prosecution of Trump, whether anyone was disciplined, whether Trump’s attorneys or the federal court overseeing the case were notified, and whether any classified information was compromised.

The communications identify multiple members of Smith’s Special Counsel Office (SCO) and other Biden DOJ personnel discussing the incidents, including senior assistant special counsel Molly Gaston, prosecutor Thomas Windom, Carli Rodriguez-Feo, Julie Edelstein, William O’Neil, and Stephanie Van Buskirk. The messages were produced by the Trump DOJ in response to Grassley’s oversight requests.

One exchange reflects concerns that an individual had been granted access to classified material before officials confirmed the person had the requisite “need to know.” Another indicates uncertainty about whether classified materials housed in a DOJ SCIF had been moved without proper accounting.

A separate chain of messages between April 18 and 19, 2024, documented what employees described as “a violation and incident” after a SCIF accessible to Smith’s office was apparently left unsecured.

One DOJ official wrote that “no one opened it yesterday because no one closed it the day before,” prompting another to respond, “That’s a violation and incident so I need to know the details.” Additional messages urged personnel to check the SCIF before leaving because there was limited staffing available to oversee the secure facility.

The messages also identify Van Buskirk as the person who opened the SCIF “the day before” the reported security incident. According to Grassley, Van Buskirk appears to have served as an assistant to Smith. The letter does not accuse Van Buskirk or any other employee of criminal wrongdoing.

Gaston was one of Smith’s senior deputies during the Biden administration and served as a lead prosecutor in the special counsel’s criminal cases against Trump, including the classified documents prosecution and the federal election interference case stemming from Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election.

The disclosures create an awkward contrast with one of the Biden DOJ’s highest-profile and most controversial prosecutions.

Smith’s office accused Trump of willfully retaining highly classified national defense information after leaving office and failing to properly secure government records at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The newly released messages, meanwhile, show personnel within Smith’s own office discussing apparent security failures involving classified materials and a DOJ SCIF.

“These records expose yet another double standard of justice,” Grassley said. “While Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden escaped accountability for mishandling highly classified information, Jack Smith and the Biden DOJ set out to paint President Trump as a felon and ruin him politically.”

However, the letter stopped short of concluding that classified information was actually compromised.

Instead, the chairman is seeking information on whether the Biden DOJ investigated the incidents, whether any classified evidence connected to Smith’s prosecution was lost, altered, or improperly accessed, who was responsible for the reported security failures, whether anyone was held accountable, and whether Smith informed Trump’s legal team or the federal court about the reported “violation and incident.”

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Specifically, Grassley asked Blanche to determine whether the SCIF housed evidence used in Smith’s prosecution of Trump, identify everyone granted access to classified materials held by the SCO, explain whether any internal investigation occurred, and provide the names of those responsible for the reported security failures.

Smith secured a 40-count indictment against Trump in June 2023, accusing him of unlawfully retaining classified documents and obstructing government efforts to recover them. The prosecution ended in July 2024, when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case after ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.