Phone records from AT&T and Verizon obtained in impeachment inquiry spark controversy

Phone logs subpoenaed from Verizon and AT&T put a spotlight on the powerful tools at lawmakers' disposal as they seek to investigate President Donald Trump in the impeachment inquiry. The records were some of the strongest circumstantial evidence included in the House Intelligence Committee's impeachment report, revealing extensive contact between President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and the Trump administration during critical points of the Ukraine saga. They also exposed calls between a Giuliani associate who has been indicted in New York, Lev Parnas, and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA). Republican lawmakers are blasting Democratic lawmakers' decision to publish the records of Nunes's calls, as well as call records from John Solomon, a conservative columnist formerly at The Hill. Ranking Member Nunes said the inclusion of the phone records in the impeachment report is an infraction of his "civil rights" and promised to explore "whatever legal remedies I have." "They have now set a precedent where [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff (D-CA) can go get any phone number he has to AT&T and AT&T is going to comply," Nunes said. But Democratic lawmakers deny legally asking the telecom companies for any phone records belonging to members of Congress or journalists.