Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that Special Counsel Jack Smith seized President Donald Trump’s government-issued phone as part of the “Arctic Frost” investigation, calling the action “unprecedented.”
“During the Arctic Frost investigation, we found that Special Counsel seized President Trump’s government-issued phone,” Bondi wrote in a Nov. 4 statement posted on social media. “This means the Biden Administration turned over President Trump’s phone to Special Counsel—an UNPRECEDENTED action.”
Bondi noted that Smith also subpoenaed all of Trump’s personal phone records, which she said exemplified the misuse of prosecutorial power for political ends.
“We can never again allow this kind of government weaponization in America,” she wrote, noting that she had submitted new documents about the seizure to congressional investigators and commended “our team at the FBI for working diligently to expose this.”
The disclosure is the latest in a series of revelations surrounding Arctic Frost, the codename for a far-reaching federal probe into alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election using alternate slates of electors.
The investigation—launched in 2022 and approved as a “Sensitive Investigative Matter” by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland—served as the foundation for Smith’s 2023 prosecution of Trump on charges related to election interference. Those charges were dropped after Trump won reelection in 2024.
Senate Investigation Reveals Scope of Probe
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has led months of investigations into the origins and scope of Arctic Frost, releasing documents and testimony suggesting that the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Joe Biden improperly targeted hundreds of Republican figures and organizations.
During an Oct. 29 press conference, Grassley said Smith’s office had issued 197 subpoenas for testimony, communications, and records covering at least 430 individuals and entities—including the Republican Attorneys General Association and conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
“Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus,” Grassley said. “Contrary to what [Jack] Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition.”
He said many of the subpoenas sought communications with members of Congress, media outlets, or White House advisers—raising concerns about overreach and potential violations of legislative privilege.
“If this happened to the Democrats, they’d be as rightly outraged as we are,” Grassley said.
Garland, Wray Approved Investigation
Documents released by Grassley show that the Arctic Frost probe was formally initiated in April 2022 after then-FBI Director Christopher Wray requested Garland’s approval through then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. Because the case involved political figures, it required sign-off as a “Sensitive Investigative Matter.”
The FBI memo outlining the probe states that it was intended to examine whether “fraudulent certificates of electors’ votes” submitted to the National Archives after the 2020 election constituted a federal crime. Garland approved the request on April 5, 2022, initialing the final page. A handwritten note confirmed Wray’s acknowledgment of the authorization.
The investigation soon expanded to include surveillance and data collection targeting multiple Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and others. According to Grassley’s office, the FBI obtained “toll records” showing call metadata—such as times and recipients—but not the content of calls.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) was also tracked, and Grassley indicated that a whistleblower made disclosures in March that government phones used by both Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence were seized during the probe. Bondi’s remarks on social media on Nov. 4 confirm the whistleblower’s claims.
The revelations have intensified calls among congressional Republicans for accountability. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has asked Smith to testify about his investigative activities, while several senators have demanded the release of all documents related to the probe.
In an Oct. 23 letter to Grassley, Smith’s lawyers said his actions as special counsel were “consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences.”
“His investigative decisions were similarly motivated, and the subpoena for toll records was entirely proper, lawful, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy,” wrote his lawyers, from Covington & Burling. “While Mr. Smith’s prosecutions of President Trump have predictably been politicized by others, politics never influenced his decision making.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Smith’s lawyers for further comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Bondi has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the investigation. She told lawmakers at the beginning of October that Arctic Frost represented “an unconstitutional, undemocratic abuse of power.”
“This is the ultimate weaponization,” she said during an Oct. 7 hearing. “And weaponization under Donald Trump has ended.”
Joseph Lord and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
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