How far, exactly, was Jack Smith willing to go in order to take down Donald Trump? 

As it happens, there apparently wasn't a line the former special counsel, who was appointed by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, wasn't willing to cross – he even confiscated the communications of scores of journalists as part of the sprawling investigation known as Arctic Frost.

It emerged during Smith's Tuesday appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he and his investigators obtained records containing communications between Trump administration officials and journalists from more than a dozen news organizations. Those communications were discovered in records produced by the National Archives after Smith’s team subpoenaed material associated with 87 White House phones used during President Trump’s first administration.

RedState's Kyle Becker had all the details. 

[Chairman Chuck] Grassley said investigators subpoenaed 87 phones belonging to Trump White House officials and obtained records containing communications with journalists at major news organizations, including CBS News, CNN, Fox News, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times and The Federalist. CBS News reported the disclosure live from Tuesday's hearing.

This came, noted Kyle, "on top of the previously disclosed collection of phone records belonging to Republican members of Congress."

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The revelation that Smith had targeted journalistic communications prompted Grassley to ask, "Now, what will partisan media say about this disgraceful government overreach?"

The answer, at least so far? Not much. 

There's been nary a peep from the upstanding D.C. press corps, who would be howling with outrage had their communications been swept up in an investigation by a Republican administration. Even those who had their messages nabbed by Smith are conspicuously silent. 

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist, however, was happy to let her feelings be known after learning that Smith had nabbed some her communications. "I'm sickened by this news that my journalistic communications were obtained as part of Jack Smith's egregious misconduct," she tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

I'm sickened by this news that my journalistic communications were obtained as part of Jack Smith's egregious misconduct.

Proud to have been one of the only journalists who debunked his agency's role in perpetrating the Russia collusion lie against the American people.

No amount of censorship or spying will prevent @FDRLST from continuing our fearless investigative journalism.

Think about the arrogance required here. Journalists depend on sources inside the federal government – and that includes the White House – to expose wrongdoing and hold the decision makers accountable. The confidentiality of those communications is fundamental to a free press.

None of that mattered to Jack Smith and his pursuit of Donald Trump, though. Everything was fair game to Smith, whose actions should send a chill down the spine of every journalist who values the ability to communicate with their sources without the worry that those messages could one day end up in a federal prosecutor's files.

The fact that so many in the media have failed to speak out like Mollie Hemingway has doesn't make Smith's conduct any less disturbing, but it sure does make their silence all the more damning.