FBI Director Kash Patel said Saturday that newly disclosed records show special counsel Jack Smith's team approved a $20,000 payment to a confidential human source during the FBI's "Arctic Frost" probe, a claim Republicans are seizing on as President Donald Trump presses to purge what he calls political bias from federal law enforcement.
Patel, posting on X, wrote: "Jack Smith’s team approved a $20,000 payment to an informant to target President Trump and his allies in Arctic Frost. That’s not law enforcement, it’s weaponization. This FBI is exposing the truth, producing records, and restoring accountability."
The payment claim, first reported by Just the News, is described in internal memos that the outlet said Patel provided to Congress. The outlet reported that the approval occurred in 2023 and involved senior officials in Smith's office.
The allegations land amid a broader Republican campaign to portray "Arctic Frost" as an expansive Biden-era investigation of Trump allies, and to argue that standard investigative tools were used as political weapons.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has released multiple documents tied to the matter.
In an Oct. 6, 2025, committee press release, Grassley said the investigation "formed the basis of Jack Smith’s elector case against President Donald Trump" and said the FBI sought phone "tolling data" in 2023 covering Jan. 4 through Jan. 7, 2021.
The release said the data reflects when and to whom calls were made, plus duration and general location, but "does not include the content of the call."
Grassley argued the probe went far beyond a limited review.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., amplified that framing in a Nov. 4, 2025, post on his official Senate website: "This is nothing short of a Biden Administration Enemies List."
Smith, through attorneys, rejected core parts of the weaponization narrative in an Oct. 21, 2025, letter to Grassley.
The letter says a grand jury subpoena for toll records of eight senators and one House member was "entirely proper, lawful, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy." It adds that "toll records merely contain telephonic routing information" and "do not include the content of calls," and says the special counsel's office "did not" wiretap lawmakers.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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