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A bombshell new document claims that the FBI secretly obtained phone records of nine Republican members of Congress, including eight sitting senators, as part of the 'Arctic Frost' investigation into the 2020 election launched under former President Joe Biden's administration, the New York Post reports.
The document was recently handed over to lawmakers and released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday (October 6).
“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 obtained by the New York Post. “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 [Pam] Bondi and [FBI] Director [Kash] Patel need to hold accountable those involved in this serious wrongdoing.”
Arctic Frost, which was initially launched in April 2022 before being taken over by former special counsel Jack Smith later that same year, examined efforts by President Donald Trump and his allies to challenge the results of his 2020 election loss to Biden. Grassley publicly released a document titled 'CAST Assistance' from September 27, 2023, which claimed that the bureau conducted “preliminary toll analysis on limited toll records" targeting Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), as well as Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), all of whom have been steadfast allies and supporters of Trump.
Johnson credited Patel's team for unearthing the document after an employee attempted to get re-certified into the FBI's CAST system. Lawmakers currently believe the FBI wasn't necessarily tapping phone conversations, rather was collecting records of who the lawmakers were speaking to at the time of the investigation.
“We recently uncovered proof that phone records of U.S. lawmakers were seized for political purposes,” Patel said in a statement obtained by the New York Post. “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.”
Whistleblowers had previously claimed that the FBI obtained phone data on Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence as part of the Arctic Frost investigation earlier this year. It was also reported last month that 92 Republican-linked groups, including Turning Point USA co-founded by the recently assassinated conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, were previously be subject to the Arctic Frost's probe.