Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed Tuesday that the FBI under President Joe Biden expanded a probe known as “Arctic Frost” to include dozens of conservative groups, among them Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
Originally launched to investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the operation grew to encompass the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, and a total of 92 GOP-linked groups and individuals, Grassley told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Arctic Frost was the FBI case opened and approved by anti-Trump FBI agent [Timothy] Thibault. Arctic Frost then became Jack Smith’s elector case against citizen Trump, and now President Trump. These new records show that Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter,” Grassley said.
Grassley accused partisan FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors of using the case to “improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.” He and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said they were making the records public.
“The case was expanded to Republican organizations. Some examples of the group[s] that [Christopher] Wray’s FBI sought to place under political investigation included the Republican National Committee, Republican Attorney General’s Association [sic], and various Trump political groups,” he continued.
“In total, 92 Republican targets, including Republican groups and Republican-linked individuals, were placed under investigative scope of Arctic Frost. On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk’s groups, Turning Point USA. In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley added.
“It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus,” he said.
My investigative work has also exposed the political way in which [Trump admininstration economic adviser] Peter Navarro was investigated and prosecuted. When FBI agent Thibault found out that Biden’s DOJ would prosecute Navarro, he said — ‘Wow, great.’ That’s a quote,” Grassley said.
The existence of “Arctic Frost” had been revealed in January, prompting the Senate to investigate. The FBI has yet to comment on Grassley’s allegations.
