FBI’s “Arctic Frost” Scrutiny of Trump, GOP Widens With Newly Declassified Records
Key Facts
- FBI toll analysis examined GOP lawmakers’ call metadata (not content) for Jan. 4–7, 2021. 
- Grassley says Arctic Frost ultimately targeted 92 Republican-linked people and groups. 
- FBI Director Kash Patel says agents were fired and CR-15 was dismantled amid reforms. 
- Thibault emails show early push to find predication
- his lawyers deny partisan motive.
by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff
(Worthy News) – Newly declassified records are intensifying scrutiny of the FBI’s “Arctic Frost” probe, with documents indicating the bureau obtained toll records from eight Republican senators and one GOP House member during its January 6 inquiry. That senior FBI official, Timothy Thibault, helped draft the opening language for what evolved into Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election case against Donald Trump, according to disclosures highlighted by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Grassley released emails and internal FBI notes describing early 2017 efforts to “aggressively” search open sources and cultivate human intelligence that “could predicate a case” on the Trump campaign, separate from the Crossfire Hurricane probe. He said those efforts culminated in April 2022 with the opening of Arctic Frost — later carried forward by Smith — who, Republicans contend, had a scope that extended far beyond Trump to conservative groups and GOP-linked figures.
The once-secret “CAST Assistance” record (Sept. 27, 2023) reflects a preliminary toll analysis on limited phone records for Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), and Rep. Mike Kelly (Pa.) covering Jan. 4-7, 2021. Toll data shows who called whom, when, how long, and general location–but not call content. Republicans called the surveillance “worse than Watergate,” alleging political targeting under then-Director Christopher Wray and Special Counsel Smith.
Thibault–who retired in 2022 amid whistleblower allegations and controversy over anti-Trump social posts–was described in Grassley’s materials as authoring draft language to open Arctic Frost and, in February 2022, supporting the inclusion of “former President… Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject.” Grassley has also accused Thibault of previously attempting to close the Hunter Biden inquiry in 2020; Thibault’s attorneys have denied any partisan wrongdoing and stated that he neither supervised nor sought to close the Hunter Biden matter.
Arctic Frost’s footprint, Republicans say, broadened to dozens of conservative entities, including Donald J. Trump for President Inc., Save America PAC, Turning Point USA, the Republican Attorneys General Association, America First Policy Institute, and Conservative Partnership Institute. Separate records indicate that the FBI obtained government-issued cell phones belonging to Donald Trump and Mike Pence during the investigation.
The disclosures arrive against the backdrop of parallel Trump-related cases. The FBI’s August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, approved by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, contributed to Smith’s prosecution for possessing classified documents — dismissed in July 2024 after a court ruled that Smith’s appointment was unlawful. Smith’s January 6-related case was dismissed in November 2024, following Trump’s election win. However, Smith’s January 2025 report asserted “substantial evidence” of an effort to overturn the 2020 results. Trump later issued broad pardons and commutations for hundreds of individuals charged in the Jan. 6 cases.
The materials released by Grassley also spotlight the FBI’s surveillance and public arrest of former Trump adviser Peter Navarro (convicted of contempt of Congress in 2023 and sentenced in 2024), which Grassley called “unnecessary.” Navarro is appealing; the current DOJ has sought to abandon prior arguments while asking outside counsel to defend the conviction — an approach Navarro opposes.
Attorney General Pam Bondi told the Senate Judiciary Committee the bureau’s conduct under Arctic Frost represented an “unconstitutional, undemocratic abuse of power,” asserting that 92 Republican individuals and groups faced intrusive scrutiny. FBI Director Kash Patel has said the bureau has taken internal corrective steps, including terminations and dismantling a unit critics labeled “weaponized,” and pledged the bureau “will never again be weaponized against the American people.”
Trump, reacting to the lawmakers’ toll-record disclosures, denounced Smith as “deranged” and accused the FBI and DOJ of election interference in 2024. Smith’s legal team has not commented on the newest document releases.
What’s new in the documents
Grassley’s latest tranche includes:
• A March 2, 2017 email from Thibault describing aggressive open-source/HUMINT collection seeking predicate for a case on the Trump campaign.
• February-April 2022 emails showing Thibault drafting opening language and approving Arctic Frost, and supporting Trump’s inclusion as a “predicated subject.”
• A Sept. 27, 2023 “CAST Assistance” record referencing toll analysis on nine GOP lawmakers around Jan. 6 timelines.
• Arctic Frost target lists encompassing GOP-aligned organizations and efforts to obtain senior officials’ government phones.
Context and next steps
Republicans are pressing for a full accounting of Arctic Frost’s authorizations, the legal process used to obtain lawmakers’ records, and whether similar tactics were applied to non-Republican targets. Bondi and Patel told Congress that further accountability measures are underway. Democrats have not yet issued a comprehensive response to Tuesday’s disclosures.
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