Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a Justice Department document showing that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and then–FBI Director Christopher Wray personally authorized the opening of “Operation Arctic Frost.”
Operation Arctic Frost was a sweeping 2022 federal investigation that later expanded to target multiple Republican lawmakers and aides connected to President Donald Trump.
Grassley said the document — bearing the three officials’ handwritten signatures — was provided by the Justice Department in response to his formal oversight requests.
“Just received this doc [from the] DOJ,” Grassley wrote Thursday on X. “Proof that Biden Atty General Merrick Garland, Deputy Atty General Lisa Monaco, [and] FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost. This investigation unleashed unchecked govt power at the highest levels. My oversight will continue.”
According to records Grassley released, Arctic Frost began in April 2022 under the supervision of former FBI official Timothy Thibault, who had previously faced scrutiny over his handling of politically sensitive cases.
The investigation was transferred that November to Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose team later used elements of Arctic Frost as the foundation for the false elector case against President Trump.
Internal FBI records uncovered by Grassley’s staff show the operation’s reach went far beyond its initial scope. Among the most explosive findings: the FBI secretly obtained “tolling data” — detailed phone logs showing time, duration, and location metadata — for eight sitting Republican senators and one House member between January 4 and January 7, 2021.
Those targeted, according to the summary from the Senate Judiciary Committee, included:
–Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
–Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)
–Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
–Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
–Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)
–Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
–Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)
–Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
–Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.)
The document, recovered from what the Bureau labeled a “Prohibited Access” file — a restricted system designed to prevent most agents from viewing certain materials — also detailed how Arctic Frost’s collection methods relied on third-party metadata requests to telecommunications providers.
While FBI officials claimed the program did not access call content, it did gather routing and geolocation data that can track individuals’ movements in real time.
Grassley said the use of “Prohibited Access” storage suggested intentional concealment. “This is the same system used to hide politically sensitive investigations from internal review,” his office wrote in a cover memo.
In a sharply worded statement, Grassley compared Arctic Frost to the 1970s-era Watergate scandal, calling it “arguably worse” due to its scale and its direct involvement of senior Justice Department leadership.
“What I’ve uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI,” Grassley said. “The FBI’s actions were an unconstitutional breach, and Attorney General [Pam] Bondi and Director [Kash] Patel need to hold accountable those involved in this serious wrongdoing. My oversight will continue until every record is made public.”
Grassley said whistleblowers first alerted him to the operation in mid-2022. His investigation since then has uncovered evidence that FBI personnel, working with officials in the Biden White House, obtained access to both Trump’s and former Vice President Mike Pence’s government-issued cell phones during the Arctic Frost probe.
FBI agents reportedly traveled across multiple states using taxpayer funds to conduct interviews of Republican campaign staffers and nonprofit leaders, including those connected to Turning Point USA and several pro-Trump advocacy organizations.
Last month, Grassley’s office released additional files showing that 92 individuals and groups linked to the GOP had been placed within Arctic Frost’s “investigative scope,” effectively treating them as potential subjects or contacts of interest.
Those disclosures prompted renewed Republican calls for a special congressional inquiry into political surveillance and data collection.
The new records also reveal that Garland, Monaco, and Wray signed off on Arctic Frost’s launch memo on April 14, 2022 — weeks before the Justice Department publicly appointed Jack Smith to oversee politically sensitive cases related to January 6 and the 2020 election.
The signatures, according to Grassley’s staff, demonstrate senior leadership’s approval of investigative authorities, which later justified extensive monitoring of political figures.
The Department of Justice declined to comment on the release, referring questions to the Office of the Inspector General. Neither Garland nor Wray has publicly addressed Grassley’s documents.