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Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Monday accused the Biden administration’s FBI of spying on eight Republican senators as part of an election-related probe, calling the alleged surveillance “worse than Watergate.”
In a post on X, Grassley shared what he described as an FBI document showing that agents conducted a “toll record analysis,” a review of phone metadata, on several GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
“The FBI under Joe Biden’s watch exercised authority that it did not have,” Blackburn said in a statement. “The Biden administration raided Mar-a-Lago, indicted President Trump, and now we know they weaponized America’s top law enforcement agency to spy on Republican U.S. senators who support President Trump. The FBI was rotten to the core under Joe Biden and Chris Wray’s leadership, and I will not let this stand.”
Grassley said the analysis was conducted under an investigation known as “Arctic Frost,” which he claims later evolved into special counsel Jack Smith’s case against former President Donald Trump over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“This document shows the Biden FBI spied on eight of my Republican Senate colleagues,” Grassley wrote. “Biden FBI weaponization = worse than Watergate.”
The 2023 document, dated Sept. 27, lists the names of lawmakers whose records were reportedly reviewed, including Graham, Hawley, Johnson, Blackburn, Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
The analysis was reportedly approved by a grand jury, allowing investigators to view the date and time of calls, but not the content of the conversations.
Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI, said the surveillance represented “a violation of people’s rights and the law and their constitutional protections.”
The FBI has not commented publicly on the claims. Grassley said he expects FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino to investigate, warning that “if heads don’t roll in this town, nothing changes.”
