Judge Douglas Cole assigned to Blackburn's suit against Jack Smith after all Middle Tennessee judges recuse

A federal appeals court has picked an outside judge to hear Sen. Marsha Blackburn's lawsuit against former special counsel Jack Smith. Chief Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the Sixth Circuit designated U.S. District Judge Douglas R. Cole to preside, according to an order issued Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The order said: "All District Judges of the Middle District of Tennessee have recused in this matter." The case was reassigned to Cole. Kethledge was appointed to the appeals court by President George W. Bush. Cole was appointed by President Trump.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the reassignment, citing pending litigation.

How the recusals unfolded

Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, filed the suit on Sept. 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. It came one day after Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Blackburn sits.

Judge Aleta Trauger, a Clinton appointee, withdrew on Oct. 2. On Monday, Oct. 5, Chief Judge William L. Campbell Jr. signed an order saying the entire active bench had recused. The other two active judges are Eli Richardson, a Trump appointee, and Waverly Crenshaw Jr., an Obama appointee.

Campbell is also a Trump appointee. So the recusals cut across the presidents who picked the judges.

The court has not given a reason. The order does not cite a conflict of interest or bias. Federal law, 28 U.S.C. § 455, requires a judge to step aside when his or her impartiality "might reasonably be questioned," and separately lists personal bias, prior involvement and certain financial interests. Which ground applies here has not been disclosed.

What Blackburn alleges

Blackburn's 46-page complaint says Smith and others in the Arctic Frost investigation subpoenaed toll records for a cellphone she used for legislative purposes. Those records show whom she contacted, when and for how long. They do not include the contents of calls.

The suit names Smith as an individual. It alleges violations of the Speech or Debate Clause, the First and Fourth Amendments and federal civil rights law. It also asks the court to declare Smith's appointment as special counsel unlawful.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance, which filed the case on her behalf, makes further allegations. It says Smith sought a non-disclosure order that kept Verizon from telling Blackburn about the subpoena. It says he did so without telling the presiding judge the records belonged to a sitting senator. It says the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section flagged D.C. Circuit precedent that the Speech or Debate bar on compelled disclosure is "absolute," and that Smith's office went ahead anyway, reasoning that "litigation risk should be minimal."

NCLA also alleges the office subpoenaed the toll records of at least 20 members of Congress, all Republicans, and roughly 400 Republican individuals and organizations. The subpoena for Blackburn's records was issued May 25, 2023, according to NCLA. She did not learn of it until Oct. 6, 2025. These are allegations in a complaint and have not been tested in court.

Blackburn has called Arctic Frost a "witch hunt that targeted conservatives across America and even the President of the United States." She said the suit is "solely about holding Mr. Smith accountable."

Smith's account

Smith's position, as he laid it out to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 29, is that the records did not include the contents of calls or text messages. He testified that the subpoena complied with Justice Department regulations and was cleared by the Public Integrity Section.

NCLA says Smith also testified that he approved the subpoenas and understood a non-disclosure order meant lawmakers "didn't have an opportunity to litigate the Speech or Debate concerns." The records covered lawmakers who spoke with Trump and his advisers during a four-day window in January 2021, Smith told the committee.

The first rulings will not be on the underlying claims. The appointment question has a separate history: a federal judge in Florida ruled in an earlier case that Smith's appointment was invalid, while special counsels before him were not Senate-confirmed.

What comes next

Cole now controls the schedule. No hearing date has been set, and Smith has not filed a response that has been made public. Smith will likely face early motions testing whether a private suit against a former prosecutor for subpoenas issued in his official role can go forward.

Why four judges from both parties stepped aside, and whether they will ever say, is still unanswered.