Day: October 7, 2025

Nine Republican  #senators were revealed to be targets of the  #FBI‘s “Arctic Frost” investigation, a precursor to special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into efforts to overturn the  #2020election.
x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1975…
In October 2025, the FBI disclosed that it had collected the phone “tolling data”—metadata such as call times, dates, and locations—of the lawmakers in 2023. [1, 2, 3, 4] 
Senators targeted in the Arctic Frost probe The Republican senators whose phone data was collected as part of the investigation are:

• Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee
• Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
• Bill Hagerty of Tennessee
• Josh Hawley of Missouri
• Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
• Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming
• Dan Sullivan of Alaska
• Tommy Tuberville of Alabama [4, 7, 8] 

The investigation also included the phone data of Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. [4, 6] 
Timeline of the Arctic Frost probe • February 2022: FBI agent Timothy Thibault created the “Arctic Frost” case file, which named then-citizen Donald Trump as a criminal subject in connection with “election law matters”.
• April 13, 2022: The FBI formally launched the Arctic Frost investigation.
• November 2022: After special counsel Jack Smith was appointed, the Arctic Frost case was incorporated into his wider investigation.
• 2023: As part of the Arctic Frost investigation, Jack Smith’s team subpoenaed phone companies to obtain the call data of the Republican senators and Representative Kelly.
• October 2025: Current FBI officials, including Director Kash Patel, disclosed the phone surveillance of the lawmakers to congressional leadership and the public following a transparency request from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley. [1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13] 

Congressional reaction Upon learning of the phone surveillance, congressional Republicans quickly condemned the actions as politically motivated overreach.

• Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the actions “arguably worse than Watergate” and demanded that anyone responsible be held accountable.
• Senator Ron Johnson publicly shared his outrage and frustration over being surveilled in the Biden-era investigation.
• Former President Donald Trump attacked Jack Smith over the revelations. [8, 15, 16, 17, 18] 

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1]  nbcnews.com/politics/congres…
[2]  foxnews.com/politics/jack-sm…
[3]  nbcnews.com/politics/congres…
[4]  nbcnews.com/politics/congres…
[5]  hindustantimes.com/world-new…
[6]  newsweek.com/donald-trump-ja…
[7]  youtube.com/watch?v=xFAFYA-5…
[8]  judiciary.senate.gov/press/r…
[9]  congress.gov/congressional-r…
[10]  yahoo.com/news/articles/jack…
[11]  nbcnews.com/politics/congres…
[12]  congress.gov/congressional-r…
[13]  foxnews.com/politics/jack-sm…
[14]  youtube.com/watch?v=CpYMImen…
[15]  youtube.com/watch?v=Px1C7ekB…
[16]  judiciary.senate.gov/press/r…
[17]  newsweek.com/donald-trump-ja…
[18]  youtube.com/watch?v=_6hPBrfb…

Senators as Part of Arctic Frost Investigation – Google Search  google.com/search?q=Senators… x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1975533143110381877

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) Oct 7, 2025