Grassley, Johnson Release Records Showing FBI Obtained Trump, Pence Cell Phones, Conducted Sweeping Interviews to Advance Anti-Trump Arctic Frost Investigation
WASHINGTON – In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) made public legally protected whistleblower disclosures showing the FBI, as part of its Arctic Frost investigation, acquired the government cell phones of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, among other government officials. FBI agents used taxpayer dollars to crisscross the country and conduct dozens of interviews in support of the political probe.
The unclassified FBI records convey the alarming scope and speed of the FBI’s 2022 investigation of President Trump, which they dubbed “Operation Arctic Frost.” The investigation – launched by anti-Trump FBI agent Timothy Thibault in a breach of FBI protocol – formed the basis of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s elector case against Trump. Upon opening the investigation, Thibault vowed it would be “prioritized over all others in the Branch” and commented that “it frankly took too long for us to open this [investigation].”
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” the chairmen wrote to Bondi and Patel. “The American people deserve to know the complete extent of the corruption within the DOJ and FBI that led to the investigation into President Trump. We are making this information public for purposes of public accountability and to provide specific examples of past behavior at your institutions that must not be repeated. Quite simply, the public has a right to know what happened in Arctic Frost and, based on what we’ve exposed to date, the American public deserves better from its law enforcement agencies. It is important that every individual at your agencies maintains the highest level of professionalism, and does not allow political bias to motivate or guide their investigative work.”
Within weeks of opening Arctic Frost on April 13, 2022, FBI agents began taking aggressive action to build out their case. The following is a summary of some Arctic Frost investigatory updates, based on unclassified internal FBI records:
- FBI begins scheduling over a dozen interviews in coordination with 13 FBI field offices.
- DOJ and FBI begin the process of acquiring Trump and Pence’s government phones, which were in the Biden White House’s possession.
- FBI begins analyzing communications between Trump team members and Republican electors.
- FBI meets with Justice Department (DOJ) officials to discuss possible search warrants for the Trump and Pence cell phones.
- FBI attempts to contact individuals in states throughout the country to schedule interviews.
- FBI obtains Trump and Pence’s government phones and enters them into evidence for the case.
- FBI interviews the first Trump administration’s Deputy White House Counsel.
- Additional interviews are planned with Trump administration officials, including employees from the Offices of the President and Vice President, DOJ and former Director of National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe.
- DOJ and FBI begin discussing the possibility of merging the DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation, which included former Acting Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Civil Division, Jeffrey Clark, with the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation.
- DOJ OIG makes plans to seek search warrants for phones associated with former AAG Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Mark Meadows and Ken Klukowski.
- FBI makes the decision to add former AAG Jeffrey Clark to the Arctic Frost investigation.
- FBI drafts a search warrant for the Trump and Pence cell phones in its possession.
- Plans continue for additional interviews with former Trump administration officials.
- FBI plans to conduct approximately 50 interviews, coupled with subpoenas, across at least seven states during the week of June 20, 2022. Interviews are set to take place with those who “signed and/or mailed the certificates in each state, as well as the Trump Campaign’s Directors of Election Day Operations for the relevant states, and certain GOP officials who are believed to have facilitated the scheme by communicating with individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the ‘fraudulent’ or ‘alternate’ electors.”
- The DOJ OIG investigation that includes Jeffrey Clark is formally merged with the FBI Arctic Frost investigation, providing FBI access to phones and email accounts from a variety of DOJ officials, including former Attorney General Bill Barr.
- Over the course of just four days in June 2022, the FBI Arctic Frost team spent approximately $16,000 in taxpayer-funded travel to “conduct more than 40 interviews, serve subpoenas and execute several cellular device search warrants.”
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