US telecom firms face harsh senators’ questions over phone records

WASHINGTON: The largest U.S. telecom companies faced ⁠harsh Senate questions Tuesday after a Justice Department prosecutor obtained phone data from eight senators related to a probe of the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

Lawyers for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile testified at a two-hour hearing before a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee after a disclosure ‌in October of ‌a 2023 document that showed the FBI obtained phone data known as “toll records” from senators’ phones and all said they had new processes in place ‌designed to protect lawmakers’ privacy.