The Biden administration’s FBI appears to have spied on eight GOP senators during its sweeping anti-Trump probe related to the January 6th Capitol riot, a new disclosure shows.
The GOP senators impacted were Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Ron Johnson (Wisc.), and Cynthia Lumms (Wyo.), according to an FBI document released Monday by Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa).
The document lists the eight senators and Representative Mike Kelly (R., Pa.) and is dated to September 2023. It was part of the FBI’s sweeping “Arctic Frost” investigation into President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6th, 2021, Capitol riot. The anti-Trump probe was part of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s D.C. case against Trump.
“We recently uncovered proof that phone records of U.S. lawmakers were seized for political purposes. That abuse of power ends now. Under my leadership, the FBI will deliver truth and accountability, and never again be weaponized against the American people,” FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.
Fox News first reported on the FBI document, which appears to show that the FBI tracked the senators’s phone records. The document says the FBI conducted “toll analysis” on the GOP lawmakers, meaning that the FBI analyzed phone records and other communications involving the Republican officials.
“Based on the evidence to-date, Arctic Frost and related weaponization by federal law enforcement under Biden was arguably worse than Watergate,” Grassley said in a statement.
“What I’ve uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI. The FBI’s actions were an unconstitutional breach, and Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel need to hold accountable those involved in this serious wrongdoing.”
As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley has conducted extensive oversight of the Biden FBI’s activities. In September, he released records showing the “Arctic Frost” probe encompassed 92 GOP organizations and individuals, including the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. The activities of the Republican National Committee, Republican Attorneys General Association, and numerous GOP operatives fell under the investigation’s umbrella.
The investigation sought to determine whether the GOP groups and GOP-linked operatives actively assisted Trump in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results. The FBI’s apparent monitoring of GOP Senators’s communications specifically focused on their phone use from January 4-7, 2021. Several of the GOP lawmakers enguled by the FBI’s investigation supported Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election.
Smith’s case against Trump was derailed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in July 2024 expanding presidential immunity to cover official acts. The litigation thwarted Smith’s attempt to put Trump on trial before the 2024 presidential election. After Trump’s 2024 victory, Smith ended his cases against Trump and resigned before Trump could fire him.
It is unclear who at the FBI was involved with tracking the communications of the GOP elected officials. Names of the FBI Washington Field Office employees involved with the matter are redacted in the newly-released record. Arctic Frost was launched by anti-Trump FBI agent Timothy Thibault and morphed into Smith’s case against Trump after the Biden Justice Department named him special counsel in November 2022.
“They spied on Catholic churches, prosecuted pro-lifers, deployed the FBI against parents at school board meetings – and tried to tap the phones of their political enemies. Including mine. This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment,” Hawley said.
“We need a full investigation of all involved: who knew about it, who ordered it, and who approved it. Anyone and everyone who violated the law must be prosecuted.”
FBI Director Dan Bongino briefed lawmakers about the Arctic Frost record Monday. Patel and Bongino have made it a priority to rectify apparent abuses by the Biden administration’s FBI.
“This is an abomination. I was just briefed by @FBIDDBongino about this appalling weaponization of the FBI under Jack Smith. I will not let it stand,” Blackburn said.
The FBI found the document in a Prohibited Access file, a kind of file meant to limit the ability of FBI agents to access certain documents. It was discovered due to Grassley’s persistent oversight of the bureau and scrutinization of the Prohibited Access system.
Trump and other GOP lawmakers have frequently accused Smith of weaponizing the federal government against Trump. Smith’s other case against Trump, a classified documents case in Florida, was similarly derailed after extensive litigation.