The U.S. Attorney General has delivered a forceful condemnation of the FBI’s controversial “Operation Arctic Frost,” calling the intelligence-gathering effort that led to the Jack Smith “elector” case an “unconstitutional, undemocratic abuse of power.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s remarks came as a newly released FBI document ignited a political firestorm on Capitol Hill.
The memo, published by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), revealed that the FBI secretly conducted preliminary toll-record analysis—a review of call and text records—on eight sitting Republican senators as part of the Arctic Frost probe. RELATED: ‘OUTRAGEOUS’: FBI ‘Spied’ On 8 US Senators In Trump Probe That Became Jack Smith’s Case
In her statement on Tuesday at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Bondi directly addressed the political nature of the previous investigation.
“This is the kind of conduct that shattered the American people’s faith in our government,” she stated. “Our FBI is targeting violent criminals, child predators and other law breakers, not sitting senators who happen to be from the wrong political party.”
The senators whose records were scrutinized include Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
Accusations of ‘Spying’ Confirmed
Senator Grassley, who published the one-page internal FBI memo on Monday, called it proof that the FBI “spied” on his colleagues without proper justification. “This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation,” Grassley wrote on X, noting the probe “later became Special Counsel Jack Smith’s elector case against Trump.”
READ: FBI’s “Arctic Frost” Targeted 92 GOP Groups And Individuals, Including Kirk’s Turning Point USA
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), one of the lawmakers whose records were scrutinized, described the FBI’s actions as “a fishing expedition” lacking any legitimate predicate. “This is major corruption that’s being revealed,” Johnson said, adding that the investigation had quietly expanded far beyond Trump campaign officials to target Republican members of Congress.
Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) echoed the outrage, calling the revelation “extraordinary.”
Bondi Vows to Remedy ‘Betrayal’
Attorney General Bondi used the explosive revelations to frame her ongoing efforts at the Justice Department. In her opening statement, she pledged that her work was to remedy the “historic betrayal of public trust” of the previous administration.
“We will work to earn that back every single day, we are returning to our core mission of fighting real crime,” Bondi said, citing efforts to fight crime with federal law enforcement surges in cities like Washington D.C. and Memphis, Tennessee.
The FBI document, dated September 27, 2023, is marked “UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO” and titled “CAST Assistance.” It was issued nearly two months after Special Counsel Jack Smith announced charges against the former President in August 2023.
Senator Johnson lamented the timing, stating, “This is almost two months later, and they’re casting this net against members of the Senate and the House. This is outrageous.”
The memo itself contains no explanation of why the Senators’ limited toll records were examined.
Still, for Republicans, the disclosure—coupled with Attorney General Bondi’s sharp criticism of the initial probe—is being treated as a major victory for accountability in the ongoing battle against what they perceive as the politicization of federal law enforcement.
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