The House Judiciary Committee is investigating the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) for its alleged involvement in the former Biden administration’s efforts targeting President Trump.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to acting DOJ Inspector General Don Richard Berthiaume Jr., seeking communications as to the OIG’s involvement in the 2022 seizure of Rep. Scott Perry’s (R-PA) phone. “The seizure was related to a joint investigation conducted by the OIG and the DOJ codenamed Arctic Frost, which later became Special Counsel Jack Smith’s partisan case against President Donald Trump,” the letter says.
Explaining that Perry’s phone underwent a forensic review, the letter stated, “The OIG’s assistance in imaging Representative Perry’s phone raises serious concerns about why the OIG would be willing to sacrifice its independence to assist the FBI in advancing such a partisan investigation.”
A forensic copy of Perry’s phone was developed, including “communications protected by common-law privileges as well as the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.”
Furthermore, reports surrounding the Arctic Frost investigation, namely that the “FBI obtained call logs for phones belonging to eight U.S. Senators and one Representative for the period of January 4 to January 7, 2021,” Jordan warned that the reports “raise concerns about the OIG’s potential involvement in obtaining the Members’ phone records given its prior involvement in obtaining a Member’s cell phone.”
Last month, Jordan sent a letter to former Special Counsel Jack Smith, demanding that he testify on the weaponized Department of Justice under the Biden administration. The letter condemned the “abusive surveillance” of congressional members, activities that “reinforce the conclusion that your office conducted politically motivated investigations.”
