A new ad airing Nov. 11 in Indianapolis from conservative nonprofit Club for Growth, pictured here on a laptop screen, urges voters to tell their state senators to support President Donald Trump's redistricting push.

WASHINGTON − The compromise legislation to reopen the government includes a provision allowing senators whose phone records were subpoenaed during the Justice Department investigation of alleged election interference to each sue the government for up to $500,000.

Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed the phone records of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming during his investigation of President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.

None of the senators were charged. Smith dropped charges against Trump after he was elected president a second time, under longstanding department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

The legislation waives the government’s immunity from lawsuits for the subpoenas, after the Senate Judiciary Committee publicized the subpoenas recently.

"What I’ve uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in revealing the subpoenas Oct. 6.

Graham called the investigation a coup on Fox News and told conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt the probe "stinks to high heaven." Blackburn and others have demanded hearings on the investigation.

But Smith's lawyers said the subpoenas were revealed in a footnote of his report detailing the results of his investigation. In an Oct. 21 letter to Grassley, Smith's lawyers said the subpoenas were narrowly tailored to cover a couple of days before and after the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. The records covered the phone numbers involved, the length and time of calls, Smith wrote.

"The subpoena’s limited temporal range is consistent with a focused effort to confirm or refute reports by multiple news outlets that during and after the January 6 riots at the Capitol, President Trump and his surrogates attempted to call Senators to urge them to delay certification of the 2020 election results," wrote lawyers Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, called the legislative provision "outrageous" on social media Nov. 11 and a way for Trump to "write a check of millions of dollars" to senators who would get rich off "taxpayer money."

The bill comes after Trump sued the government seeking $230 million for the same investigation.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senators subpoenaed in election interference probe can sue under shutdown bill

Reporting by Bart Jansen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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