FBI Targeted Republicans' Phone Records as Part of Jan. 6 Investigation

The FBI obtained and analyzed phone data of a handful of Republican senators during the Biden administration as part of the investigation into the January 6th breach of the Capitol. A unclassified FBI document dated September 27th, 2023 shows nine Republicans were targeted. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Representative Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. Phone data between January 4th and January 7th, 2021 was sought in the operation with code name Arctic Frost. The records enabled investigators to see basic information about the date and time of the calls, but not the content of the communications. The operation was carried out by the FBI's CR15 unit and was part of the January 6th investigation, which was led by former special counsel Jack Smith. Between 2017 and 2025, Christopher Wray was the FBI director. Grassley, who released the FBI document, said the document is evidence of the weaponization of federal law enforcement under the previous administration. He said in a statement, What I've uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI. The FBI's actions were an unconstitutional breach. And Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel need to hold accountable those involved in this serious wrongdoing. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the event and said his agency had taken several actions afterwards. We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead, he wrote in a social media post.