The private information of hundreds of Republican lawmakers, allies and entities was gathered during an FBI investigation, dubbed project “Arctic Frost,” which began in April 2022.
Arctic Frost was an investigation into whether President Donald Trump had committed any wrongdoing in the alleged “false electors scheme” following the 2020 presidential election, but whistleblowers over the past three years said it morphed into illegal surveillance of members of the Republican Party and their allies.
The Judicial Oversight Committee first published documents highlighting Arctic Frost’s overreach in 2023. The bureau initially said it tracked phone records of the nine Republican lawmakers from Jan. 4-Jan. 8, 2023, but new reporting shows the operation was much more expansive.
In October, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released documents showing the FBI sent 197 subpoenas to 34 people and 163 businesses demanding information about more than 400 Republicans and entities.
These documents provided evidence that the FBI tried to get private information on a number of prominent conservative figures.
They contacted a wide variety of cellphone companies, banks, individuals and media companies, asking for Republicans’ cellphone communications data, banking records and emails, The Washington Examiner reported. Each subpoena had a nondisclosure order to prevent individuals and businesses from notifying congressmen they’d been asked for their information.
Several targets included presidential adviser Stephen Miller, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
Republican-aligned organizations, including the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, Conservative Partnership Institute and the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, were also targeted per the report.
Democrats have largely avoided discussing Arctic Frost in public statements, press conferences and congressional hearings.
Attorney General Bondi says FBI seized Trump’s work phone
On Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that during the Arctic Frost investigation, special counsel Jack Smith “seized President Trump’s government-issued phone” and “subpoenaed all of President Trump’s personal phone records.”
Bondi said she has submitted these new documents for review.
In a Truth Social post several weeks earlier, President Trump referenced new documents highlighting Operation Arctic Frost, saying they showed “conclusively that Christopher Wray, Deranged Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, Lisa Monaco, and other crooked lowlifes from the failed Biden administration, signed off on” it.
Articles of impeachment filed against Judge James Boasberg
Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., has come under fire recently, after news broke that he signed off on special counsel Smith’s subpoenas, targeting Republican lawmakers.
In Trump’s second term, Boasberg has earned the spotlight for blocking the president’s deportation orders under the Alien Enemies Act.
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, announced on X that he is beginning the process to impeach Boasberg for his role in operation Arctic Frost.
In his post, Gill said Boasberg has “weaponized the judiciary against critics of the Biden administration” and is “guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, is unfit for office and should be impeached.”
On Tuesday, Gill filed articles of impeachment. To continue the impeachment process, the House Judiciary Committee will investigate the charges and draft articles of impeachment. Then it will require a simple majority vote in the House of Representatives and move to the Senate. There, senators will hold a trial, and if a two-thirds majority votes in favor, Boasberg will be removed from his position.
Currently, the balance is 53 to 47, Republicans to Democrats, in the Senate.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., appeared on Fox News, Tuesday, supporting Gill’s move to impeach Boasberg.
“I think it’s appropriate for the House and Chairman Jordan to begin impeachment proceedings on Judge Boasberg,” Blackburn said.
Sen. Ted Cruz calls Arctic Frost Joe Biden’s ‘Watergate’
Last Thursday, Grassley held a press conference to discuss the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation into project Arctic Frost.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who was targeted in the FBI operation, told reporters, “Arctic Frost is Joe Biden’s ‘Watergate.’”
“Merrick Garland was a fundamentally corrupt attorney general. Jack Smith was a fundamentally corrupt prosecutor,” Cruz said. “This was a political enemies list from the beginning. One-hundred ninety-seven subpoenas for 430 Republican entities and individuals. That is an absolute and egregious abuse of power.”
Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., added her support for Boasberg’s impeachment.
“If there was ever an instance to root out judges that were not following the law or were not being independent or were not living up to their oath, this is it,” Moody said. “We must use that tool to make sure the public can trust in our judiciary again.”
ACLJ requests every record related to Arctic Frost
The American Center for Law and Justice filed a FOIA request, Tuesday, “demanding every record related to this surveillance campaign against the legislative branch.”
The American Center for Law and Justice reported that it is filing on behalf of the eight senators and one representative who were targeted by project Arctic Frost.
“When the executive branch spies on the legislative branch, it not only threatens the constitutional separation of powers, but it also confirms that the Biden-Garland Justice Department was weaponizing the government and targeting political opponents under the guise of law enforcement. This is not oversight. It’s overreach,” they wrote upon filing their information request.