President Trump tore into former Special Counsel Jack Smith as “a real sleazebag” after newly released documents showed the FBI secretly obtained the phone records of eight Republican senators during Smith’s tenure.
According to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the records were gathered as part of a Biden-era investigation known as “Operation Arctic Frost.” The 2023 probe, led by Smith, authorized a “preliminary toll analysis” on several GOP lawmakers — a quiet mapping of who called whom, and when.
“Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!”
— President Donald Trump, TRUTH Social
Smith, who led the Department of Justice prosecutions against Trump over classified documents and the 2020 election, had taken control of Arctic Frost in late 2022. The operation, launched months earlier, was framed as an inquiry into alleged “election interference.”
Lawmakers reportedly swept up in the surveillance included Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA).
Grassley released a one-page FBI document dated Sept. 27, 2023, labeled “CAST Assistance.” The file showed the bureau’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST) had “completed a preliminary toll analysis on limited toll records.”
The document surfaced after an FBI employee referenced it while renewing certification for the CAST system — a moment that led FBI Director Kash Patel’s office to discover what had been quietly buried.
Now, outrage is building on Capitol Hill. Republican senators are demanding answers and promising to investigate what Grassley called an “unprecedented abuse of power.”
“Based on the evidence to date, Arctic Frost and related weaponization by federal law enforcement under Biden was arguably worse than Watergate,” Grassley said.
“If heads don’t roll in this town, nothing changes.”
