The ‘Arctic Frost’ inquiry ‘was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends,’ the senator said at a hearing.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday released new documents suggesting that several conservative organizations were targeted by the FBI as part of its investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election under then Director Christopher Wray.
The probe, dubbed “Arctic Frost,” served as the basis for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal prosecution of then-candidate Donald Trump, alleging that he had attempted to overturn the 2020 election.
But that probe “was much broader than just an electoral matter,” Grassley said during a Sept. 16 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel.
Instead, Grassley said during his opening remarks, Arctic Frost “was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”
According to new documents released by Grassley, conservative groups—including Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, the America First Policy Institute, and others—were targeted by the probe.
In total, Grassley said, 92 conservative groups were “placed under the investigative scope of Arctic Frost.”
During questioning of Patel, Grassley asked what the FBI would do to ensure such a situation wouldn’t occur again.
“The simple answer, Mr. Chairman, is the FBI will only bring cases that are based in facts and law, and have a legal basis to do so,” Patel said. “Anyone who does otherwise will not be employed at the FBI.”
Patel said the agency was doing internal reviews to identify agents who may have engaged in partisan weaponization of the agency during President Joe Biden’s administration.
“This FBI will not be weaponized anymore, on either side of the aisle,” Patel said.
The day after the Judiciary Committee questioned Patel about the investigation, Trump said in a social media post that the Biden administration “tried to force Charlie, and many other people and movements, out of business,” saying it “Weaponized the Justice Department” against Biden’s political opponents.
The investigation into Arctic Frost comes after conservatives for years expressed concerns that Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI were being weaponized against them.
By Joseph Lord
