REVEALED: Merrick Garland & Chris Wray Personally Signed Off On “Arctic Frost” Probe That Spied on GOP Senators

We just learned that several top Biden officials — namely, ex-Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and FBI Director Christopher Wray — were the ones who approved the controversial “Arctic Frost” probe in 2022.

Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released a memo written by Wray on the investigation that would go on to rival the Watergate scandal.

The document shows a handwritten message from Monaco requesting that Garland sign off on it.

See the evidence for yourself:

NEW:  APPROVAL CAME FROM THE TOP

Biden administration AG Garland, his deputy Lisa Monaco and then Director Christopher Wray physically signed off on FBI probe codenamed ARCTIC FROST.

The records via @ChuckGrassley show authorization based on “limited detail and basis” including… pic.twitter.com/FdaaKzlwjL

— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) October 23, 2025

NEW: APPROVAL CAME FROM THE TOP

Biden administration AG Garland, his deputy Lisa Monaco and then Director Christopher Wray physically signed off on FBI probe codenamed ARCTIC FROST.

The records via @ChuckGrassley
show authorization based on “limited detail and basis” including “open source” media reporting (similar pattern seen with Steele Dossier to justify FISA/surveillance warrants.)

Then probe collected phone records from GOP lawmakers including time, place and length of call.

Phone metadata can be more revealing than the contents of the phone call obtained by wiretaps .

https://grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/doj_approval_to_open_arctic_frost.pdf

ARCTIC FROST laid foundation for Jack Smith electors probe.

In his announcement, Chuck Grassley accused the Biden administration of unleashing “unchecked government power at the highest levels.”

Here’s his statement:

Just received this doc frm DOJ Proof that Biden Atty General Merrick Garland+ Deputy Atty General Lisa Monaco+ FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost
 
This investigation unleashed unchecked govt power at the highest levels My oversight will continue pic.twitter.com/atuRnC8ara

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 23, 2025

And here’s a closer look at the documents:

Of course, “Arctic Frost” would eventually lead to Jack Smith’s witch hunt against President Trump.

As part of the investigation, the FBI also subpoenaed the phone records of nine congressional Republicans.

The New York Post has more:

The FBI’s Washington Field Office requested the senior officials’ authorization before looking into “an apparent effort to obstruct Congress’ certification of the Electoral College” and “fraudulent certificates of electors’ votes were submitted to the Archivist of the United States, purporting to represent the actual elector votes from the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin,” the files show.

“Open source reporting and public statements made by individuals closely associated with Donald J. Trump, Inc. (Trump Campaign) present an articulable factual basis indicating the existence of a federal crime, and thus the FBI seeks to open a full investigation,” according to the four-page memo written by Wray.

The FBI boss — who resigned one day before Trump returned to office as the 47th president — sent the missive to Garland, who signed it April 5, 2022.

“Merrick, I recommend you approve,” Monaco scrawled beneath her boss’s signature line.

Arctic Frost would eventually provide investigative material to special counsel Jack Smith for his indictment of Trump charging unlawful efforts to reverse Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory — but prominent donors, allies and even sitting senators were also swept up in the FBI’s dragnet.

According to unclassified files also released by Grassley, the bureau quietly issued subpoenas for nine congressional Republicans’ phone records as part of the probe, a move the 92-year-old senator called a “weaponization” of federal law enforcement that was “arguably worse than Watergate.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has since accused Smith — whose case against Trump was dismissed before he assumed office — of having “spied on duly elected members of Congress” and called for the DOJ ex-special counsel’s disbarment.

“As part of Jack Smith’s weaponized witch hunt, the Biden DOJ issued subpoenas to several telecommunications companies in 2023 regarding our cell phone records, gaining access to the time, recipient, duration, and location of calls placed on our devices from January 4, 2021, to January 7, 2021,” Blackburn wrote in a letter earlier this month co-signed by others whose phone metadata was accessed.

“We have yet to learn of any legal predicate for the Biden Department of Justice issuing subpoenas to obtain these cell phone records,” added the letter, which was also signed by Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and Dan Sullivan of Alaska as well as Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.).

Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) also had their call logs seized during Arctic Frost.

Now, we have the evidence — this illegal operation was executed from the top.

Hold them all accountable…

Keep the heat on. Hopefully we’ll see criminal referrals under laws like 18 U.S.C. § 242 or FISA for Arctic Frost abuses.

— AgaObF (@AgaObF) October 23, 2025