President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the "thugs" behind the Democrats' Arctic Frost probe, insisting they should be "investigated and put in prison."
Trump made the assertion in a social media post, a day after House Republicans revealed that more than 160 congressional Republicans and former Trump administration officials were potentially investigated under the Biden-era probe, launched in April 2022.
"These thugs should all be investigated and put in prison. A disgrace to humanity. Deranged [special counsel] Jack Smith is a criminal!" Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social on Wednesday.
The House Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that the size and scope of the FBI's investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election were larger than previously known. The committee cited the release of 198 new documents.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, reported that 45 individuals — including former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, former Trump attorney John Eastman, and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — were "potentially under investigation."
The GOP-led panel also asserted that another 111 individuals, among them Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, senior adviser Dan Scavino, former DOJ official Jeff Rosen, and current DOJ "weaponization czar" Ed Martin, "were also potentially under investigation."
It was previously revealed that, under President Joe Biden, the FBI conducted toll record analysis — a form of communications metadata review — on several GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
In addition, 92 Republican or conservative-aligned groups and individuals — including Turning Point USA, co-founded by slain conservative leader Charlie Kirk — were also targeted.
Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, in April 2022, authorized the FBI's Washington field office to launch a full investigation into what officials described as "an articulable factual basis indicating the existence of a federal crime" involving Trump and "individuals closely associated with him."
That decision launched the "Arctic Frost" investigation and would lead to the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith in November 2022.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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