WASHINGTON – Today, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are releasing legally protected whistleblower disclosures that prove the genesis of the federal election interference case brought against President Trump began at the hands of a prolific anti-Trump FBI agent who acted outside of established protocol for opening cases. 

Internal FBI emails and predicating documents provided to Grassley and released jointly by the two senators show Timothy Thibault, a former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) who was fired from the Bureau after Grassley exposed his public anti-Trump bias, authored the initial language for what ultimately became Jack Smith’s federal case against Trump regarding the 2020 presidential election. Thibault took this action despite being unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his ASAC role. The FBI titled the ensuing investigation “Arctic Frost.” 

Records further reveal Richard Pilger, an official in the Justice Department (DOJ)’s Public Integrity Section, 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. Grassley published a 2021 report that raised concerns regarding Pilger’s troubling record at DOJ.

Grassley in 2022 additionally questioned Thibault’s role at the FBI, writing, “I remain very concerned that political bias by a select group of Justice Department and FBI officials has infected the Justice Department’s and FBI’s usual process and procedure to open and pursue high-profile and politically charged investigations.” In November, Sens. Johnson and Grassley called on Jack Smith to preserve all records related to Trump-targeted investigations.

The records released by Johnson and Grassley are linked below:

• Exhibit 1
• Exhibit 2
• Exhibit 3
• Exhibit 4
• Exhibit 5
• Exhibit 6
• Exhibit 7
• Exhibit 8
• Exhibit 9

Grassley provided an overview of the records in his opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI Director. Excerpts from Grassley’s opening statement follow:  

“In my hand are a series of FBI emails.

“The first is an email that Thibault sent to a subordinate agent on February 14, 2022.

“He said, ‘Here is draft opening language we discussed.’  The draft opening was attached, and it included material that would later become part of Jack Smith’s elector case. 

“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.’ This FBI case would later be codenamed Arctic Frost. 

“The third email is a February 24, 2022, email from Thibault to John Crabb noting that Attorney General and FBI Director approval will be sought to open the case. 

“The fourth email is a February 25, 2022, email from Thibault’s subordinate agents saying they added Trump, and others, as a criminal subject to the case. Thibault responded ‘Perfect.’ 

“The fifth email is a March 22, 2022, email from Thibault emailing a version of an investigative opening for approval. This didn’t include President Trump as a criminal subject.   

“The sixth email is an April 11, 2022, email from Thibault approving the opening of Arctic Frost.

“The seventh email is an April 13, 2022, email from an FBI agent to Thibault stating that the FBI Deputy Director approved its opening. 

“The eighth email on that same date had Thibault emailing John Crabb that the elector case was approved. Crabb responded, ‘Thanks a lot. Let’s talk next week.’ 

“Between March 22 and April 13, other versions of the document opening the investigation existed, because a ninth email shows that the FBI General Counsel’s office made edits on March 25. 

“Was Trump still removed as an investigative subject?  If so, which Justice Department and FBI officials – other than Jack Smith – later added him for prosecution? 

“I expect the production of all records on this matter to better understand the full fact pattern and whether other records exist.”

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