The FBI analyzed the phone records of nine Republican members of Congress in 2023 during its investigation into President Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a unclassified document released Monday by Senate Judiciary Committee.
The document, dated Sept. 27, 2023, says that an FBI special agent — whose name is redacted — conducted “preliminary toll analysis” on the phone records of Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Ron Johnson (Wisc.), Cynthia Lummis (Wy.) and Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), along with Rep. Mike Kelly (Pa.).
In a news release, the committee said that the FBI obtained the lawmakers’ phone records from Jan. 4 to Jan. 7, 2021, before, during and after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Hundreds of GOP lawmakers voted to object to the certification of the electoral results in Arizona and Pennsylvania, including Hawley, Tuberville, Lummis — only to Pennsylvania — and Kelly.
The analysis was part of the bureau’s “Artic Frost” investigation, opened in April 2022 by Timothy Thibault, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office. The investigation preceded former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 results.
The FBI document was obtained via an oversight request from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the committee. In the committee’s release, Grassley called the revelation “disturbing and outrageous political conduct” and called on Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to hold those involved accountable.
Patel, in a Monday post on the social platform X, said under his watch, “the FBI will deliver truth and accountability, and never again be weaponized against the American people.” The Hill has also reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) called the FBI’s actions an “outrageous abuse of power and weaponization of the government” in a Tuesday morning post on X. Thune also said he backs Senate committees “getting to the bottom of this.”
During a press conference alongside Grassley, Blackburn, Johnson and Lummis, Hagerty called the FBI’s actions “as partisan as it gets” and called for changes at the bureau.
“The FBI and the corruption that’s running there has to be cleared out,’ the Tennessee Republican added.
In a video posted to X on Monday, Graham called the revelations “beyond unnerving.”
“This is chilling, and I don’t know what I’m [going to] do, but if a lawsuit materializes [and] I think there’s a case to be made, I will make it,” Graham added. “Not only on behalf of myself, but for those in the future who may find themselves in my position.”