The FBI may have investigated more than 160 Republicans, including several current Trump administration officials, under former President Joe Biden’s administration as part of a wide-ranging probe called Arctic Frost.
This is according to documents released by the House Judiciary Committee.
The investigation included high-profile figures such as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
The documents, totaling 198 pages, were made public on Tuesday and reveal the extensive scope of the Biden-era Justice Department’s investigation into alleged 2020 election interference.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan spoke about the revelations during an appearance on Fox News.
He told host Sean Hannity that the investigation was far more extensive than initially understood.
Jordan stated that he wants former special counsel Jack Smith to testify before the committee in a deposition format.
The Ohio Republican said he has specific questions for Smith about the nature of the operation.
The congressman wants to ask Smith whether this was a political operation targeting President Trump and how many members of Congress were subjected to surveillance.
Jordan emphasized the importance of getting answers from Smith, whom he identified as the person who ran the operation.
Documents show that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, ex-Assistant Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and former FBI Director Christopher Wray all approved the investigation into conservative groups and Trump allies.
A memo released last week by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley revealed these officials signed off on the probe in April 2022.
The investigation was transferred to Smith in November 2022 when he was appointed as special counsel following Trump’s announcement of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Smith subsequently brought charges against Trump related to the handling of national security documents and efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
The documents released by the House Judiciary Committee contain heavy redactions throughout. However, the available information shows that Arctic Frost investigators utilized FBI agents from multiple field offices across the country.
The New York Post highlighted that field offices ranging from Seattle to New York were involved in conducting interviews and carrying out investigatory procedures.
The documents indicate a coordinated effort spanning multiple regions.
Several requests within the documents detail plans to surreptitiously record interview subjects.
An internal email revealed that investigators sought approval for $16,600 in travel expenses for June 2022 alone.
The travel expenses were requested to conduct more than 40 interviews, serve subpoenas and issue several cellular device search warrants during that month.
This indicates the intensive nature of the investigation during that period.
One email contained allegations against Ed Corrigan, president of the Conservative Partnership Institute and a longtime GOP Senate aide.
The email, which appears to have been sent to the FBI’s Washington Field Office from a Seattle-based agent, included claims that Corrigan is pro-Putin and wants to build infrastructure to train people for civil war.
The Seattle-based FBI agent wrote that Corrigan secretly controls the freedom caucus and has plans that are not beneficial to the FBI.
The agent attributed this information to a redacted source and noted that Corrigan refers to the FBI as “spooks.”
Previously released Arctic Frost documents showed that more than 90 conservative groups were targeted in the probe.
Among those organizations was Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA nonprofit.
Smith obtained metadata from the phones of eight Republican senators and one GOP House member.
This metadata would have provided the special counsel with information about who these lawmakers called or texted as part of the Arctic Frost investigation, the Post noted.
The former special counsel has been requested to provide closed-door testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. However, Smith has demanded a public hearing instead, stating he wants to address what he describes as many mischaracterizations of his two investigations into Trump.
