Documents turned over to the Senate Judiciary Committee showed that the FBI under former President Joe Biden secretly obtained phone records for nine Republican members of Congress, including eight sitting senators, during its Arctic Frost investigation into 2020 election meddling.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday in a statement about the documents, “Based on the evidence to-date, Arctic Frost and related weaponization by federal law enforcement under Biden was arguably worse than Watergate.

“What I’ve uncovered today is disturbing and outrageous political conduct by the Biden FBI. The FBI’s actions were an unconstitutional breach, and Attorney General [Pam] Bondi and [FBI] Director [Kash] Patel need to hold accountable those involved in this serious wrongdoing.”

This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation into "election conspiracy" Arctic Frost later became Jack Smith's elector case against Trump

BIDEN FBI WEAPONIZATION = WORSE THAN WATERGATE pic.twitter.com/V2JyiVlX48

— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 6, 2025

Who was surveilled?

Arctic Frost started in 2022 and later was taken over by Jack Smith. The investigation formed Smith's elector case against Trump.

Those surveilled were Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), as well as Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA).

It wasn't clear why the Senators were spied on, based on the documents.

Ostensibly, the investigators were looking for comments that would implicate either the senators or President Donald Trump in wrongdoing in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

“The only thing we all had in common was we were all Republicans,” Hagerty said about the surveillance.

"Abuse of power ends now"

The committee currently believes that the FBI did not listen in on conversations of the senators, but only looked at who they called and when.

“We recently uncovered proof that phone records of U.S. lawmakers were seized for political purposes,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “That abuse of power ends now. Under my leadership, the FBI will deliver truth and accountability, and never again be weaponized against the American people.”

Grassley said that the investigation into Arctic Frost would continue and that the committee would seek to hold wrongdoers accountable.

“If heads don’t roll in this town, nothing changes,” Grassley grumbled to reporters.

Whistleblowers had previously alleged that Arctic Frost got then-Vice President Mike Pence's phone records, and that it had the ability to investigate 92 conservative groups.