In an exclusive revelation, it has been discovered that the Biden administration handed over government-issued cellphones belonging to President Donald Trump and ex-Vice President Mike Pence to the FBI in May 2022.
This move was part of an FBI investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election, which has been criticized for its lack of sufficient predication in linking Trump to the investigation.
According to Fox News Digital, the FBI did not require a warrant to physically obtain the government phones from the Biden White House. However, after securing the devices, agents initiated the process of drafting a search warrant to extract the phones data.
An insider familiar with the investigation disclosed, "The Biden White House played right along with the FBIs gotcha scheme against Trump. Bidens Office of White House Counsel, under the leadership of Dana Remus and Jonathan Su, gave its blessing and accommodation for the FBI to physically obtain Trump and Pences phones in early May 2022. Weeks later, the FBI began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones data."
The cellphones were procured and cataloged as evidence in the FBIs original anti-Trump 2020 election investigation, known internally as "Arctic Frost." This investigation was initiated on April 13, 2022, by Timothy Thibault, a former FBI agent with a known anti-Trump bias. Thibault has been accused of breaking protocol and playing a pivotal role in the investigation related to the 2020 election, linking Trump to the probe without sufficient predication.
Documents reviewed by Fox News Digital reveal that Thibault pledged to prioritize the investigation "over all others in the Branch" and expressed that "it frankly took too long for us to open this (investigation)." By late April 2022, the FBI had scheduled over a dozen interviews for the investigation, coordinating with 13 FBI field offices nationwide.
These revelations stem from legally protected whistleblower disclosures provided to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Senate Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis. In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, Grassley and Johnson wrote, "The new records we are making public point to an aggressive investigation run by anti-Trump agents and prosecutors intent on using every resource available to pursue Trump and his supporters."
The first record relating to the Trump and Pence phones was dated April 25, 2022. It noted: "DOJ and FBI were informed that government-issued cellphones that purportedly previously belonged to former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald J. Trump were in the possession of individuals at the White House. DOJ is currently conducting analysis regarding the FBI taking possession of and processing the phones."
On May 4, 2022, FBI agents took possession of the two phones belonging to Trump and Pence. The phones were entered into evidence and were not processed until search warrants were obtained. On the same day, FBI agents interviewed Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su. A follow-up letter requesting additional information regarding the phones was then sent from the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington D.C., to White House Counsel Dana Remus on May 9, 2022.
In their letter to Bondi and Patel, Grassley and Johnson stressed that they "expect the production of all records related to the Arctic Frost investigation, including all internal records of investigative updates." They also requested a "true and complete breakdown of the total dollar amount spent on the Arctic Frost investigation before it was officially transferred to Jack Smith in November 2022," including information related to travel funds and hours spent on the investigation.
The FBI's response to the request was communicated by spokesman Ben Williamson, who told Fox News Digital, "As always per Director Patels directive, our team will work aggressively to comply with congressional requests."
The investigation into Trump's retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the President obstructed the federal government's investigation into the matter was led by Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ's public integrity section. Smith also oversaw the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.
Despite the charges brought against Trump in both cases, he pleaded not guilty. The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. After Trump was elected President, Smith sought to dismiss the 2020 election case in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., a request that was granted by Judge Tanya Chutkan.
The actions of the Biden administration and the FBI in this matter raise serious questions about the impartiality of our law enforcement agencies and the potential misuse of power for political ends. As Grassley and Johnson aptly put it, "The American people deserve better from its law enforcement agencies." The public indeed has a right to know the full extent of the actions taken in the Arctic Frost investigation, and it is crucial that our institutions maintain the highest level of professionalism, free from political bias.
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