Biden FBI Targeted 92 GOP Organizations, Individuals in Sweeping Anti-Trump Probe, Records Show

The FBI’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election was far broader than previously known — encompassing 92 Republican organizations and individuals, newly released records show.

The “Arctic Frost” investigation into Trump targeted Republican groups, including the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, the Republican National Committee, and the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to records released by Senators Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.) Tuesday morning. Numerous pro-Trump political operatives were also placed under the scope of the Arctic Frost investigation, the records show.

The groups and individuals had their communications and financial records subpoenaed as part of an effort to determine whether they were actively assisting Trump in a conspiracy to reverse the results of the 2020 election, including by filing false election fraud claims and scurrilous lawsuits against election administrators, organizing alternative slates of electors to step in if and when the original slates were rejected by Congress, or attempting to coerce Vice President Mike Pence into refusing to certify the results.

Grassley and Johnson released the records at the start of an oversight hearing with FBI director Kash Patel in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley chaired the hearing and addressed the records in his opening statement.

“Now, it’s well-understood that your predecessor left you an FBI infected with politics,” Grassley said.

“In total, 92 Republican targets, including Republican groups and Republican-linked individuals, were placed under the investigative scope of Arctic Frost. On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk’s groups, Turning Point USA. In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump. It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”

The new documents revealing the extent of the Biden administration’s efforts come after a judge dismissed charges against 15 Michigan Republicans who organized to make themselves as an alternative slate of electors if Michigan’s actual electoral votes, which went to Joe Biden, were rejected by Congress.

Veteran independent journalist Catherine Herridge first reported on the documents with a series of social media posts.

Smith prosecuted Trump in Washington, D.C., on charges related to the role Trump played in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The case led to the Supreme Court’s ruling in July 2024 granting the president immunity from prosecution for official acts, a major blow to Smith’s case. The D.C. case ended upon Trump’s victory in the presidential election last November, and Smith left his post before Trump could fire him.

Grassley praised Patel’s transparency and the FBI’s agreements with ten whistleblowers to settle complaints of retaliation during the tenure of former FBI Director Christopher Wray. On that note, Patel promised to divulge all FBI documents related to deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that he can release under the conditions of existing court orders.

At the beginning of the oversight hearing, Patel laid out the FBI’s work combatting violent crime and gave an update on the investigation into the assassination of Kirk last week. Patel said the FBI’s decision to release footage of alleged assassin Tyler Robinson was pivotal in tracking him down.

“A few hours later, that suspect was in custody, pursuant to the interrogation of the suspect’s own father, who stated, ‘When I saw that video that you released, I recognized it was my son. And I confronted him,'” Patel testified. “And he was handed over to lawful law enforcement authorities.”

Later on, Patel revealed that the FBI is working to track down more than 20 members of Robinson’s chatroom on Discord, a social media platform for gamers. Patel said the FBI has already worked with local law enforcement to conduct interviews with those close to Robinson to learn more about his motives and ideology. The FBI has matched Robinson’s DNA to the assassination site and found a note he wrote about “taking out Charlie Kirk,” Patel said earlier this week.

Robinson was living with a transgender-identify partner and put leftist phrases on unspent rounds left near the assassination site. Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) confirmed over the weekend that Robinson was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology” as he became more political in recent years.

Senate Democrats took a more confrontational tone with Patel throughout the hearing, attacking him for firing senior staff and launching investigations into political opponents. Patel dismissed those concerns and reiterated his assertion that he is returning the FBI to its law enforcement mission instead of focusing on political weaponization.

“The only actions we take, generally speaking, for personnel at the FBI, are ones based on merit and qualification and your ability to uphold your constitutional duty. You fall short? You don’t work there anymore!” Patel told Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.).

Patel testified that the FBI has released 33,000 pages of records to congress in the first seven months of his term, a significant increase from Wray and other predecessors. Patel has provided congressional investigators with documents related to numerous scandals during Wray’s term, including the FBI’s targeting of Catholics and false claims of collusion between Trump and Russia.