Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) released whistleblower records that reveal specific people involved in the federal election interference case against President Donald Trump.
The case “began at the hands of a prolific anti-Trump FBI agent who acted outside of established protocol for opening cases,” the announcement of the disclosure states.
Former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Timothy Thibault was behind the original language for what became Jack Smith’s case against Trump. Thibault opened and approve the investigation, which became known as “Arctic Frost.”
According to the records, Justice Department official Richard Pilger “reviewed and approved the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, authorizing DOJ to move forward with a full field criminal and Grand Jury investigation that ultimately transformed into the Trump elector case,” the announcement says.
In his opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI Director, Grassley said, “In my hand are a series of FBI emails.”
Grassley shared an email from Thibault where the former FBI agent discussed “draft opening language.” The language “included material that would later become part of Jack Smith’s elector case,” Grassley said.
“The second email is a February 24, 2022, email from Thibault to John Crabb, a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, saying, ‘I had a discussion with the case team and we believe there to be predication to include former President of the United States Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject,’” Grassley stated. “This FBI case would later be codenamed Arctic Frost.”
“Justice Department and FBI leadership acted in concert to further a political scheme to take down Trump. Just like they did with Crossfire Hurricane. They have yet to learn their lesson,” Grassley added.
He emphasized on X that he supports Patel for FBI Director in order to end the bureau’s weaponization.
