FBI Surveilled 8 GOP Senators, Document Shows

FBI Director Kash Patel said employees involved in the effort have been terminated.

The FBI surveilled Republican senators as part of its Arctic Frost investigation, a newly disclosed document shows.

FBI agents carried out surveillance on the cell phones of Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), according to the document, which was made public by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Oct. 6. They obtained information known as toll records from the phones.

The document was dated Sept. 27, 2023.

Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) was also surveilled.

“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.

He described the FBI’s actions in the investigation as “an unconstitutional breach” and called on FBI Director Kash Patel to hold accountable the personnel involved.

An automated message from the FBI’s press office indicated a response would not be coming immediately due to the government shutdown.

“During the current lapse in appropriations, FBI operations are directed toward national security, violations of federal law, and essential public safety functions. Media inquiries outside of these functions will be considered when the lapse in appropriations ends,” the message stated.

Patel wrote on X on Oct. 7 that he and other leaders have promised transparency, and in the wake of the latest disclosure of “the baseless monitoring of members of Congress by the prior leadership team of the FBI,” the FBI has terminated employees, eliminated the FBI’s public corruption team, and started an investigation that he said will lead to additional measures.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that Arctic Frost was “an unconstitutional, undemocratic abuse of power.”

When asked whether she had sought waivers of secrecy so all documents related to Arctic Frost could be produced to Congress, Bondi said she would be working with Patel.

“There’s not much more we can say about the issue, for obvious reasons, at this time,” she said.

Arctic Frost

Arctic Frost is the name of a probe that started in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden. It was launched into the alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Officials said the aim of the alleged conspiracy was to keep Trump in office after Biden won.

Grassley has pointed to documents, including emails, that indicate that then-FBI official Timothy Thibault, who expressed anti-Trump views on social media, was behind the probe.

The FBI carried out the investigation with other agencies, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The investigation was later taken over by special counsel Jack Smith, who ended up charging Trump. Smith wrote in his final report that toll records showed Trump tried reaching out to two U.S. senators and also directed a co-conspirator to call members of Congress to convince them to delay certifying the election results.

“We need you, our Republican friends, to try to just slow it down so we can get these legislatures to get more information to you,” Smith quoted one voicemail to an unnamed senator.

The charges were dropped after Trump won the 2024 race.

It was previously known that Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and lawyers representing Trump were among those who had phones seized as part of the Arctic Frost probe. Lawmakers have also released records showing the FBI acquired cell phones used by Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence during the investigation.

Another document showed the investigation targeted 92 conservative organizations, including Turning Point USA, led by the late Charlie Kirk. Grassley asked Patel about those records during a September hearing, prompting Patel to tell him, “This FBI will not be weaponized anymore, on either side of the aisle.”

Senators React

Senators who learned they were surveilled said that the FBI abused their power.

“We were surveilled simply for being Republicans,” Johnson wrote on X. “This does not surprise me, but it should shock every American. What the Biden Administration has done is an outrageous abuse of power—it is blatant political persecution. Those responsible must be held fully accountable.”

Lummis said that the FBI acted outside the law.

“Targeting and spying on me and my Republican colleagues for representing our constituents is unconstitutional and outright authoritarian,” she wrote on X. “This blatant abuse of power can never happen in America again.”

Hawley, during the hearing with Bondi on Tuesday, highlighted other actions from the FBI and Department of Justice during the previous administration, including recruiting informants among Catholic institutions.

“This is what was happening under Joe Biden: United States Senators spied upon. Former presidents, the political opponents of the president at that time, targeted, prosecuted. Pro-lifers targeted, prosecuted. Catholics targeted, prosecuted. Ninety-two conservative organizations put under surveillance, targeted for potential prosecution,” he said.

“That is the ultimate weaponization,” Bondi said. “And weaponization under Donald Trump has ended.”

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Arctic Frost

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