FBI Arctic Frost probe targeted nearly 100 GOP groups including Charlie Kirks TPUSA: docs
WASHINGTON — An FBI investigation launched in the wake of the the 2020 election scrutinized nearly 100 Republican and GOP-aligned groups or people — including Turning Point USA, co-founded by slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, unclassified bureau files released Tuesday show.Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) published files related to the probe — codenamed “Arctic Frost” — during a panel hearing, saying the records revealed “Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter” and that the investigation “expanded to Republican organizations.”“Some examples of the groups the [Christopher] Wray FBI sought to place under political investigation included the Republican National Committee, Republican Attorneys General Association and Trump political groups,” Grassley went on.“On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk’s groups, Turning Point USA,” he added.“In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump.It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”Arctic Frost kicked off in April 2022 and focused on at least 92 Republican-linked entities like Kirk’s youth activist organization.
That November, the case was handed over to special counsel Jack Smith.Smith would go on to federally charge President Trump with unlawfully hoarding national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and wrongly seeking to overturn the 2020 election results.The investigation pursued lines of inquiry about purportedly false election fraud claims, fake elector schemes, frivolous lawsuits, financial fraud and pressure on state officials to flip vote counts in Trump’s favor.“This conspiracy involved subjects from the private sector, in numerous battleground states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico, and Arizona), the Departme...