Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty formed legal defense fund in December

Tennessee U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty formed a legal defense fund two months after the revelation former special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation sought phone records of nine Republican federal lawmakers, including Hagerty.

Hagerty created the WFH Legal Expense Trust to help pay for any “legal proceedings arising from the acquisition of cell phone records” related to Smith’s investigation, filings signed on Dec. 2, 2025 show. He has not been charged with any crime.
Tennessee U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty legal defense fund filing
Hagerty filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission in February against Verizon for disclosing his phone records, and calling the company “complicity in the witch hunt against President (Donald) Trump and his supporters.”

Smith’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol started a year into former President Joe Biden’s administration. Smith would eventually indict Trump in 2024, but the charges were dropped when he won the election, citing a longstanding precedent not to seek charges against a sitting President.

Several Senate Republican lawmakers were upset that Smith was able to obtain sitting lawmakers’ phone records. As part of a quickly passed funding package in November, senators added a provision to the bill allowing those whose phone records were seized to sue for $500,000. But after outrage by members of both parties in the House, the provision was repealed as part of the January funding bill.

Hagerty is not the first senator or Tennessee lawmaker to create a legal defense fund in the past year.

Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elisa Slotkin of Michigan created legal defense funds also in December after Trump accused them of “seditious behavior” for releasing a video telling U.S. military personnel to refuse “illegal” orders.

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles has also created a legal defense fund after the FBI seized his phone in an investigation into campaign finance violations. Ogles has not been charged with any crime.

Hagerty’s office did not respond to questions sent by Lookout by the time of publication.