A recently obtained document shows that Former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” team allegedly monitored phone calls and private communications of almost a dozen Republican lawmakers during the January 6 Capitol riot and related election challenges investigation, Fox News Digital reported.
The document, titled “CAST Assistance”, dated September 27, 2023, and and recently discovered by FBI Director Kash Patel, bears the case ID “ARCTIC FROST—Election Law Matters—SENSITIVE INVESTIGATIVE MATTER—CAST,” and states that an FBI special agent “conducted preliminary toll analysis” on the lawmakers’ toll records. According to the document, Smith’s team could see which phone numbers senators called, and the origin and destination locations of the calls, Fox News Digital cited.
Among the officials listed are GOP Senators Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), Ron Johnson (Wisconsin), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming), Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Tommy Tuberville (Alabama) and GOP Representative Mike Kelly (Pennsylvania), it reported.
The recordings and data were, an FBI official told the news website, collected in 2023 after subpoenaing major telephone providers. A source said the phone calls were likely connected to the vote to certify the 2020 election, it cited.
Smith was tapped as special counsel in November 2022, and Arctic Frost was opened inside the FBI on April 13, 2022, the report said.
Upon discovery of the records, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel briefed the affected senators on Capitol Hill on Monday, according to Fox News Digital. A source said they believed it necessary to act “as soon as possible” after the finding, it reported.
“It is a disgrace that I have to stand on Capitol Hill and reveal this — that the FBI was once weaponized to track the private communications of U.S. lawmakers for political purposes,” Bongino told Fox News Digital. “That era is over.” He added: “Under our leadership, the FBI will never again be used as a political weapon against the American people.”
FBI officials told the news website that the newly revealed records came in response to an oversight request by Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Patel and Bongino “personally directed additional review” of the Arctic Frost case after Grassley’s request, Fox News Digital cited. The FBI also described Arctic Frost as a “prohibited case,” saying the review required going “above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency,” it reported.
After several months of investigation, Smith charged Donald Trump in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., over his 2020 election actions — but once Trump regained power, Smith sought dismissal of that case, a motion Judge Tanya Chutkan granted, Fox News Digital reported. The cost to taxpayers for Smith’s case was more than $50 million, it said.
Attempts by Fox News Digital to reach Smith for comment were unsuccessful.
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