Jack Smith issued subpoenas targeting more than 400 Republicans in Arctic Frost case, Grassley says

Then-Special Counsel Jack Smith issued nearly 200 subpoenas in his sweeping Arctic Frost-linked case against President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election and the events of January 6, 2021, seeking records on more than 400 Republican personalities and groups, according to records related Wednesday by a top Senate investigator.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, made public 197 subpoenas which Smith and his Biden-era DOJ team issued “as part of the indiscriminate election case against President Trump,” the Republican senator’s office said on Wednesday. Smith’s case began at the FBI — led at the time by now-former FBI Director Chris Wray — under the codename of “Arctic Frost.”

The records released by Grassley provide even more new insights into the sweeping investigation aimed at Trump World, which was launched by the FBI and later picked up by Smith under then-Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee had previously disclosed on Tuesday that more than 160 Republicans – including many closely connected to Trump – were targeted for possible investigation during the Arctic Frost investigation.

Grassley’s office said the subpoenas, which were provided to him by whistleblowers, were sent to 34 people and 163 businesses, and that the subpoenas “requested testimony, communications, and records related to at least 430 named Republican individuals and entities.”

The records Smith subpoenaed included “communications with media companies such as CBS, Fox News, Fox Business, Newsmax, Sinclair, and others,” Grassley’s office said, as well as “communications with White House advisors” such as Stephen Miller, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, senior adviser Dan Scavino, Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump, and others.

The 197 subpoenas, totaling more than 1,700 pages long, also went after “statistical data and analysis relating to donors and fundraising efforts” and “broad financial data relating to conservative individuals and entities,” the Iowa Republican’s office said.

On top of this, the subpoenas also related to communications with “any member, employee or agent of the Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government.”

The list of subpoena targets compiled by Grassley’s staff shows Smith demanding information from financial institutions, conservative groups, Republican organizations, and Trump-allied entities.

“Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus. Contrary to what Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition,” Grassley said during a Wednesday press conference, contending that “if this happened to the Democrats, they’d be as rightly outraged as we are.”

Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said that “45 individuals” including former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, former Trump attorney John Eastman, and former Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., “were potentially under investigation.”

The GOP-led committee argued that “another 111 individuals” including Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, former Trump DOJ official Jeff Rosen, and current DOJ weaponization czar Ed Martin “were also potentially under investigation.”

​​The Jordan-led committee also publicly released on Tuesday letters from December 2022 from the leaders of the January 6 select congressional committee — headed up by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Ga., and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. — telling Smith that they “want to make evidence we have gathered available to the Department of Justice.” Cheney went on to endorse now-former Vice President Kamala Harris in her unsuccessful race against Trump last year.

Recently-declassified revelations related to Arctic Frost chronicle the 2022 lawfare assault against Trump and MAGA world, as criminal inquiries – which would soon lead to criminal charges – spun into high gear as Trump leaned toward running for president again.

New evidence shows that Wray, Garland, and then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco signed off on the launch of the Arctic Frost inquiry into Trump related to the Capitol riot.

Unearthed emails also show that the Biden White House Counsel’s Office coordinated with an anti-Trump FBI agent to hand over phones which had belonged to Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Arctic Frost also targeted dozens of GOP officials and organizations, according to documents released earlier this year.

The recent revelation that the FBI snooped on the phone records of Republican members of Congress during its January 6 investigation is also bringing greater scrutiny to Wray and Smith.

These revelations are also putting the spotlight on former FBI agent Timothy Thibault, whom Republicans argue showed extreme anti-Trump bias, demonstrated a willingness to target Trump early in his first term, attempted to slow walk or block the FBI’s investigation into Hunter Biden, and in early 2022 helped spark Arctic Frost investigation — later carried on by Smith — which led to criminal charges against Trump related to the Capitol riot.

Smith indicted Trump in August 2023 related to the then-former president’s alleged actions surrounding the 2020 election, with superseding charges in August 2024. Smith contended that Trump “pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.”

Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed the January 6-related case against Trump in November 2024 after Trump’s win, pointing to the Office of Legal Counsel’s position that a sitting president could not be prosecuted by his own DOJ.

Smith released his report on his January 6-related effort against Trump in January of this year, a couple weeks before Trump’s second inauguration. The special counsel report concluded that “substantial evidence demonstrates that Mr. Trump then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to retain power.”