Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released on Wednesday 197 subpoenas that the Biden administration's FBI used to seek testimony and documents related to hundreds of Republicans and GOP entities as part of the bureau's Arctic Frost probe, the precursor to former special counsel Jack Smith's election investigation.
"Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus," Grassley said at a press conference. "Contrary to what Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition."
Standing alongside Grassley, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., called the subpoenas "nothing short of a Biden administration enemies list."
The subpoenas included nonpublic, confidential grand jury material that Grassley said he obtained through whistleblower disclosures.
They sought certain communications with media companies, including Fox News, CBS, Sinclair and Newsmax and with "any" members and aides in Congress. They also sought sweeping financial information from conservative entities.
Grassley and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, have been releasing troves of documents related to Arctic Frost, a probe that they say was baseless and that Smith used to bring criminal charges against Trump related to the 2020 election.
Smith brought four charges against Trump in 2023 alleging he illegally attempted to overturn the election, but the former special counsel encountered numerous hurdles during the federal court proceedings in D.C. and eventually was forced to dismiss the case after Trump won the 2024 election, citing a DOJ policy that discourages targeting sitting presidents.
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