Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are pressing major telecommunications companies to fully explain their roles in the Biden administration's "Arctic Frost" investigation.
According to a media report, special counsel Jack Smith sought the private, personal cellphone records of then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
In a new oversight push, Grassley and Johnson sent letters to Verizon, AT&T, and Lumen demanding details on any subpoenas tied to the FBI's "Arctic Frost" probe, which targeted communications of Republican lawmakers, organizations, and private citizens.
According to the senators' press release, records obtained from the National Archives inspector general show officials at the National Archives and Records Administration, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service discussing subpoenas to the carriers as they jointly pursued the investigation.
The subpoenas referenced in those internal emails predate Smith's formal appointment as special counsel, yet the companies have not produced any matching documents, Grassley and Johnson said.
The senators have also written to Southern First Bank, Microsoft, TDS Telecommunications, and several major tech and social media platforms to determine whether they, too, received secret demands for Republican data.
Whistleblowers previously told the senators that more than 400 Republican individuals and groups were swept up in "Arctic Frost," and that phone records for at least 13 lawmakers, including former Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, were subpoenaed.
Fox News Digital reported Smith's team went even higher, seeking toll records in January 2023 for the personal cellphones of McCarthy and Gohmert. The request was flagged inside the FBI in a "Significant Case Notification" memo.
McCarthy blasted the move as a "blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration," vowing to seek legal redress and predicting Congress will demand accountability for what he called an "illegal attempt" to access lawmakers' records.
AT&T told Grassley that Smith sent a grand jury subpoena for records involving two members of Congress, later identified as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and McCarthy.
The company said that after it questioned the legal basis for targeting sitting lawmakers, Smith's office declined to pursue the subpoena and "no records were produced."
Even so, Grassley said "Arctic Frost" "looks more and more out of control with each passing day," describing it as a political "fishing expedition" against Republicans "from top to bottom."
The probe, opened inside the FBI in April 2022 and later handed to Smith, ultimately produced a now-dismissed election case against Donald Trump while costing taxpayers more than $50 million.
Smith insists his data collection was "narrowly tailored" and compliant with DOJ policy.
But for conservatives, the idea that Biden's DOJ secretly plotted to track the private communications of the House speaker and multiple GOP senators is yet another alarming sign of a weaponized federal law-enforcement apparatus.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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